French military chief quits
FRENCH leader Emmanuel Macron faced the biggest crisis of his young presidency yesterday following the resignation of the military chief he had rebuked for criticising defence spending cuts.
The row between Macron and General Pierre De Villiers blew up last week when the chief of the defence staff told a parliamentary committee he would not allow the armed forces to be “screwed” by the government’s plans to slash
million from the budget.
Macron, 39, replied later that “I am the boss” and criticised the 60-year-old general for dragging the budget row into the “public sphere”.
De Villiers said in his resignation statement he felt he had no choice but to stand down because “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”. — AFP