Analysis: France rejoins NATO on strategic concerns

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-18 14:42

PARIS -- The French government on Tuesday won a parliamentary vote on its plan to return to NATO's military command after a fierce debate amid concerns over potentially undermined independence.

However, some experts say the plan, proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, was based on strategic considerations, especially on the once bruised transatlantic relations and the stalled plan of European common defense.

France was a founding member of NATO in 1949 during the Cold War era. Then President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the command in 1966 to assert the country's sovereignty and seek a less US-oriented policy.

Although France has remained a political member of the alliance, the country has always pictured itself as a diplomatic "maverick" independent of US clout.

Nearly four decades later, the transatlantic relations were further strained as France, under former President Jacques Chirac, joined hands with Germany to oppose the US-led war in Iraq.

Sarkozy has aimed to improve transatlantic ties since he took office, and expressed the country's intention of rejoining NATO's military command on several occasions. On March 11, he confirmed that intention during a speech in Paris.

Apparently France is seeking closer cooperation with the United States under new President Barack Obama and seems eager to bury any severe rift that he inherited from his predecessors, analysts say.

However, the government's plan to rejoin NATO military command, which won a vote of confidence on Tuesday in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, faced huge opposition, even from Sarkozy's conservative camp.

Former Prime Ministers Alain Juppe and Dominique de Villepin have criticized Sarkozy for giving up France's independence in defense policy without a reason. De Villepin has described the decision as a serious "diplomatic mistake."

Sarkozy argued that France, the fourth largest contributor to NATO in terms of troops and money, should rejoin the decision-making process to meet the country's strategic interests.

He also cited heightened need for global cooperation amid fresh threats such as terrorism and energy security.

Currently, more than 4,000 French soldiers are stationed on almost 90 percent of NATO missions worldwide, including in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Rejoining the command would allow French officers to assume key command posts.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon told Parliament Tuesday that France would "doubtless" take over a key NATO command post in Norfolk, Virginia, where the alliance's long-term strategy is discussed.

French military officials will also take over the regional command headquarters in Lisbon, the location of NATO's Rapid Reaction Force and its satellite reconnaissance system.

Meanwhile, France's return to the NATO command would help dispel concerns that its plans to build a European Union defense force would compete with NATO.

France has for years been a strong supporter of a common EU defense system, which the US fears would undermine its influence in European security.

The proposal also received lukewarm response from some EU members who worry that the plan might jeopardize NATO unity.

As French Defense Minister Herve Morin admitted, France has "a lot of trouble" in advancing European defense, as some European partners assumed that the French want to weaken NATO, an accusation Morin says was "unfounded."

The French return to NATO command might help strengthen trust among the alliance members and offer some hope that the stalled plan of European defense could move forward, some analysts said.

Still, it remains to be seen whether France's return to NATO would serve such purposes.

As some experts pointed out, NATO was by design an unbalanced organization and was built to be US-led and US-dominated.

France has yet to reap any tangible results from its negotiations with NATO over such requests as more soldiers for the EU's own battle groups and a European defense headquarters.

More likely is a collision of interests between the NATO members after the cheerful celebration of France's return, analysts say.