A budget-constrained France could launch a national loan to fund plans to beef up its defence spending, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and Finance Minister Eric Lombard said on Friday.

In fact this was Christian Pineau, the French foreign minister, after the Suez crisis in 1956. Then, America forced Britain and France to pull back from their joint military adventure. Britain concluded that it had to hug America close;

European Union leaders have committed to a massive step in defense cooperation following decades of hesitation

European Union leaders are holding emergency summit talks to beef up their own military defenses and make sure Ukraine will still be properly protected as Europe faces the prospect of the U.S. cutting