France, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary and Cyprus to buy surface-to-air missiles, says Macron

France will on Monday host a meeting of European defense ministers to try to smooth out differences over the continent's joint air defense.

Held on the margins of the Paris Air Show, the gathering hosted by Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu will include around 20 of his counterparts and the European Commission's internal market Chief Thierry Breton.The meeting is widely seen by observers as a response to the German-led European Sky Shield plan launched in October, under which 16 NATO countries and Sweden plan to use German, US and Israeli equipment.France and Poland are notable holdouts from Sky Shield, with Paris keen to promote its own medium-range anti-air missiles.

At stake are huge contracts, with Germany and France alone set to spend $11 billion on air defense by 2030.France, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary and Estonia could also sign a statement of intent to buy MBDA's Mistral short-range anti-aircraft missiles.