The new French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, ex-minister for overseas territories replacing Florence Parly, announced yesterday that he would go to the bedside of soldiers wounded in combat on Saturday at the Percy military hospital in Clamart (Hauts-de-France). -Seine).“I have a special thought for the victims, the families of the victims, of whom the nation has a duty to remember, never to forget”he said during his transfer of power with his predecessor, at the Hôtel de Brienne, in Paris. “But also of course [une pensée pour] the soldiers who were injured in combat operations, and therefore at the request of the President of the Republic, I will be going tomorrow to Percy hospital, to meet and ensure the solidarity of the new government, all the Republican fraternity in towards those who, unfortunately, have experienced a serious wound in their flesh.he added.
During his brief speech, in front of an audience of soldiers and ministry staff, Mr. Lecornu mentioned the “gravity” context, citing the conflicts in which France is currently engaged, from the fight against terrorism to the “high intensity crisis” present in Ukraine which “revises all the doctrines on which we have relied for more than thirty years now and on which the President of the Republic has asked this ministry to “restructure” in some way our defense apparatus, our capability means, our strategies , our weapons systems…”he insisted.
Aged 35, Mr. Lecornu, who was overseas minister under Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, takes over as head of a ministry for the armies which has benefited from a strong increase in its budget since 2017, but which fears future unfavorable trade-offs in view of the deterioration of public finances. Speaking a few minutes earlier, Mr.me Parly insisted on the “historic increase in the budget of the Ministry of the Armed Forces”which allowed, according to her, “to fully shift our defense tool into the 21ste century” and to begin “the complete renewal of materials and equipment in the three armies”.