euro|topics - France back in NATO

02/12/2008

English
Deutsch
Français

Español

Main focus of Wednesday, June 18, 2008

France back in NATO

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced a radical restructuring of France's armed forces. Among other things, France is once more to become a full member of NATO. How does Europe's press view the modernisation of this European nuclear power?

The Times - United Kingdom

The Times calls the plans for modernising France's military a "new strategic vision", and "as sensible as they are far-reaching. ... The military aim is to make the French Army leaner, supplied with better intelligence and modern weaponry and more focused on today's terrorist threats rather than the Cold War danger of conflict in Europe. But there is also a significant shift in defence doctrine. France is reconfiguring its armed forces with the intention of rejoining Nato's unified military command and boosting the European Union's role in defence. More than 40 years after France gave Nato notice to quit Paris, Mr Sarkozy has told his allies and his countrymen that the Gaullist dream of military independence is over." (18/06/2008)

Trouw - Netherlands

Even after restructuring its armed forces, France will still retain its military independence, the Dutch daily comments: "'Sarko the American' has once again made it clear that he intends to break with France's traditional policy of keeping the Americans at a distance. France is rejoining Nato's military command, he said, repeating a former promise. President Charles de Gaulle left that military command in 1966 in protest at 'American supremacy'. ... Nato has always been a sensitive issue. Sarkozy assured his people yesterday that Paris would remain an independent ally, a free partner. The return ... is not really a break with the Gaullist stance, Sarkozy insisted. Full membership does not oblige a country to send soldiers to crisis areas. Moreover, the decision regarding France's nuclear weapons ... remains in French hands." (18/06/2008)

Le Monde - France

In view of the planned reform of the French military, the daily Le Monde calls for an army with a human face: "The French army is in for a diet. ... and our defence profile will change. The weight loss is to be achieved by downsizing the staff. ... To put it bluntly, military doctrine will no longer be limited to the four traditional pillars of prevention, deterrence, protection and intervention. The military has been assigned a fifth function: knowledge and anticipation. Intelligence, in other words, not to say espionnage. ... All the armies of the world, starting with the American troops in Iraq and the Russian troops in Chechnya, have been assigned these five missions. But one forgets to give them a sixth: repairing damages and comforting crying children." (18/06/2008)

La Repubblica - Italy

The Italian daily sees the planned restructuring of the French Army as the result of a shift in principles: "Fewer soldiers, more intelligence. A flexible and efficient defence force that can respond to the new threat of terrorism, not just war. This is the form Nicolas Sarkozy's new army is to take. ... The decision will not bring major changes on a practical level, but certainly on the level of doctrine. ... Not only does Sarkozy plan to equip the armed forces of his own country with more intelligence technology. He has also called on the EU to set up a small army of 60,000 soldiers that would enable Europeans to take joint action and be active in every corner of the Union where there is a crisis, even for longer periods of time." (18/06/2008)

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Bookmark this page at