Defense budget: Rearming our country requires asking those who are most able to contribute, according to Jean-Marc Vayssouze

The Senator from Lot spoke in the chamber on May 5, 2026.

As the Senate prepares to review the updated defense budget, which includes a €36 billion increase, the Lot Senator spoke in the chamber on May 5, 2026 to demand that the government “tell the truth to the French people.”

During his speech, Jean-Marc Vayssouze-Faure described a “world on the brink,” mentioning “for the first time since 1945, the threat of a high-intensity conflict that can no longer be ignored on our continent.” “Yes, the world is changing, and France must adapt,” declared the parliamentarian, who believes that “budgetary effort is essential because our defense priorities must quickly become more coherent, with more ammunition, more drones, and more personnel.”

In the hemicycle, Jean-Marc Vayssouze-Faure wished to address the issue of the “acceptability” of this additional effort, regretting that the budget update does not answer the question of “consent to the preservation of peace.” “Madam Minister, we must tell the truth to the French people. Our deficit is growing. Our debt is increasing. Without new revenues, how can we promise €36 billion more for defense without telling our citizens that this will inevitably result in a decline in public services, new school closures, and expanding medical deserts? We can never accept these collateral damages,” declared the senator, echoing the current realities in the Lot department.

Jean-Marc Vayssouze-Faure then reiterated the proposals made to his parliamentary group’s counterparts “to mobilize new resources without burdening the most modest.” “Because we want additional resources for our defense and our public services, we proposed taxing the wealthiest taxpayers. Because we are committed to republican patriotism, we proposed a defense booklet to mobilize the savings of French citizens who wish and are able: a way to strengthen the necessary Army-Nation link.”

The Lot elected official also asked the Government “to admit that we cannot mobilize billions for our defense while protecting the wealthiest with fiscal immobility.” In front of Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin, Jean-Marc Vayssouze-Faure declared that “rearming our country requires involving those who have the means the most,” denouncing “those who use demagogy by claiming that this new budgetary effort will be painless.”

The senator finally recalled that “defending France is not just about voting for budget increases for our armies. It’s about preserving all the pillars that sustain a Nation: education, health, social cohesion, local authorities and collective security.”