French President Emmanuel Macron and the chief of staff of the armies of France Thierry Burkhard review the troops during the annual military parade of the national holiday on the avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, July 14, 2025 (AFP / Ludovic Marin)
Indonesian troops, guest of honor, opened the traditional July 14 parade in Paris on Monday, which highlights an army “lend to combat” face “to a brighter world”, in the aftermath of Emmanuel Macron’s promise to further increase defense expenses.
Preceded by the Patrouille de France and the air parade, more than 450 Indonesian soldiers, including the musicians of a “Drumband”, in a variegated uniform and the head covered with a pilot helmet, a head of tiger, eagle, Morse or shark according to their body of belonging, opened the march in front of the French President Emmanuel Macron and his Indonesian Prabowo counterpart Subaianto, as well as the emir of Kuwait Mechal al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Paris has concluded a strategic partnership with Jakarta to weigh in the Indo-Pacific Zone.
Organized as a “real military operation” according to the military governor of Paris, General Loïc Mizon, the parade this year reflects the gravity of threats weighing on the security of the continent.
“Since 1945, freedom had never been so threatened,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday before a lounge of high officers, notably evoking the “lasting threat” that Russia weigh on the continent.
The Strategic National Review published Monday postulates that “it is now clear that we are entering a new era, that of a particularly high risk of a major high intensity war outside the national territory in Europe”.
“This would imply France and its allies in particular European, by 2030, and would see our territory targeted at the same time by massive hybrid actions”, specifies the document.
– “good war” –
Consequently, despite economy efforts, France intends to strengthen its budgetary effort for the defense, adding expenses of 3.5 billion euros in 2026 then again 3 billion more in 2027, so that the country’s defense budget will have almost doubled in ten years under its two terms, to reach nearly 64 billion euros on this horizon.
An increase in military spending that 72% of French people seem ready to support, according to an Odoxa – backbone survey for Le Figaro published on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron (top left) and the chief of staff of the armies, General Thierry Burkhard (top right), review the troops from the command vehicle during the annual military parade on July 14 on the avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, July 14, 2025 (Pool / Abdul Saboor)
During the parade, back on the prestigious Parisian avenue of the Champs-Elysées after being moved last year because of the Paris Olympic Games, the French army wanted to highlight its “operational credibility” and its “strategic solidarity” with its partners.
“The army scrolls in a good war brigade, that is to say ready to combat,” said General Mizon on RTL radio.
Soldiers from the 7th armored brigade, made up of three blocks of infantry, cavalry and support (artillery, genius) parade in combat clothes, on foot and aboard their armored vehicles, equipped with their heavy helmet and bulletproof vest.
The Elite Aerobatile Elite Team of the French Air Force, the “Patrol of France” (PAF), releases trails in the national colors of France while it is overflown during the annual military parade of the National Day, on the avenue des Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, in Paris, July 14, 2025 (AFP / Ludovic Marin)
Paris is able to deploy this year if necessary, a brigade – more than 7,000 men with all ammunition and logistics – in ten days. In 2027, the ambition is to do the same for a division (more than 20,000 men) in 30 days.
– Youth in the spotlight –
To embody the partnerships of France paraded a Belgian-Luxembourg company, the Franco-Finlandian binational force composing the rapid reaction force of the Finul, the UN mission in Lebanon, or the crew of the Auvergne frigate, which has carried out several deployments in Baltic and Arctic in order to support NATO operations.
Members of the Voléaitre (SMV) and the adapted military service (SMA) of New Caledonia, training and integration systems in employment have also been honored, while Emmanuel Macron says he wants to give “a new framework” so that “youth have the opportunity to serve”.
Previously, at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, the Head of State had given to the president of the Flame Committee, on the occasion of his centenary, a sword used to rekindle the flame of the unknown soldier each evening, representing the French fighters who fell in battle.
The parade also celebrates the centenary of the Bleuet de France, an institution created in 1925 to work for solidarity with the fighting world by distributing fabric blueberries.
In total, 7,000 women and men parade, including 5,600 on foot, 65 planes including 5 foreign aircraft, 34 helicopters, 247 vehicles and 200 horses from the Republican Guard.