The head of the French armed forces has quit after a dispute with President Emmanuel Macron over budget cuts.
In a July 19 statement, General Pierre de Villiers said he no longer felt able to command the sort of army "that I think is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people.”
The row between Macron, 39, and De Villiers, 60, blew up last week when the chief of the defense staff told a parliamentary committee he would not allow the armed forces to be "screwed" by the government's plans to slash $980 million from the budget.
Macron later criticized the general for airing the budget row in the "public sphere" and told him “I am the boss,” reports said.
The cuts are part of 4.5 billion euros to public spending that Macron's government has pledged.