French Economy Minister Eric Lombard announced a €717 million investment in Eutelsat, a French satellite operator and global competitor to Starlink.
This was reported by the publication Euractiv.
France invests in Eutelsat
The increase in investment comes as the Donald Trump administration has taken an increasingly dismissive and antagonistic stance toward its long-standing European allies.
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“The French state stake reflects a clear intention: to position satellite communications as a strategic tool for promoting digital and industrial sovereignty in France and throughout Europe,” Lombard wrote on social media on June 19.
According to the publication, Eutelsat's current ownership is divided between the French state, which owns 13.6%, and the UK, which owns 10.9%.
Following the announced increase, France's sovereign share should rise to 30%, while the UK's share should fall to around 8%.
It was previously reported that Germany has been funding a satellite analogue of Starlink, Eutelsat, for Ukraine for about a year now.
There are currently less than a thousand terminals of this operator in Ukraine. However, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke expects their number to increase.
