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| Youngest French President Emmanuel Macron. |
French President Emmanuel Macron was to address troops at an air base on
Thursday as he sought to repair the damage following the resignation of a
highly regarded military chief who challenged the government's budget cuts.
Macron flew to the base in Istres, southern France, a day after General
Pierre de Villiers quit in the wake of a row over the government's plans to
slash 850 million euros ($980 million) from his budget.
De Villiers stepped aside after being publicly slapped down by Macron in
front of the troops for telling a parliamentary committee he would not allow
the armed forces to be "screwed".
The 39 year old president's handling of the dispute with the 60 year old
general was widely criticised by his opponents and the press as heavy-handed.
Macron, who last week told the armed forces "I am your boss",
stood his ground after de Villiers' departure, saying "it is not the job
of the head of the armed forces" to question the budget.
The president also stood by his pledge to raise the defence budget again
in 2018, saying: "I'm behind our troops."
In a sign of his popularity with the rank and file, staff at the defence
ministry gave de Villiers a rousing sendoff as he left for the last time on
Wednesday, forming a guard of honour amid rapturous applause.
The video of his departure was posted on the official Twitter account of
the chiefs of staff with the message: "Thank you".
In his resignation statement, the general said he had no choice but to
step aside in the face of the planned cuts.
"I no longer feel able to ensure the sustainability of the model of
the armed forces that I think is necessary to guarantee the protection of
France and the French people," he said.
General Francois Lecointre, a 55-year-old hero of the wars in the
Balkans, was named as de Villiers's replacement. He accompanied Macron to the
airbase on Thursday.
- Shot self in foot -
The French press held Macron chiefly responsible for the dispute, which
many commentators saw as the first misstep of his 2 month old presidency.
The conservative Le Figaro daily accused the president of "shooting
himself in the foot" in behaving "like a little departmental head who
is obliged to remind everyone who's the boss".
The leftist Liberation newspaper said Macron's "little
authoritarian fit" could be a sign he was drunk on power and said he was
time for the youthful leader "to grow up a bit".
Macron's defence cuts part of a
4.5-billion-euro reduction in spending aimed at reducing France's budget
deficit were viewed by the military as a betrayal after his strong show of
support for the armed forces during his first weeks in office.
- Action man -
Macron's first foreign trip was to Mali, where he meet French troops
engaged in counter-terrorism operations.
Earlier this month, he was photographed being winched action man style
onto a nuclear submarine from a helicopter.
The president's office said he would use the speech at the air base to
"reiterate his support for the armed forces, reminding them of his
campaign pledge to increase the defence budget as well as his ambitious plans
for them in a difficult international environment".
Seen as one of the finest officers of his generation, de Villiers's
departure triggered howls of indignation from the opposition.
Retired general Dominique Trinquand, who advised Macron during his
election campaign, said the row had cast a pall over his otherwise
"remarkable" debut.
"This is a hitch that will probably be a bit difficult to get
past," he told AFP.
Nuclear-armed France and Britain are the biggest military powers in the
European Union.
French forces are currently taking part in strikes against Islamic State
jihadists in Syria and Iraq and 4,000 French soldiers are involved in
counter-terrorism efforts in west and central Africa.
And at home, 7,000 soldiers are deployed to
patrol the streets after a series of terror attacks that have killed more than
230 people since 2015.
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