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  • France rejoins NATO military command

    PanARMENIAN.Net

    France rejoins NATO military command

    Karine Ter-Sahakyan

    France's return is expected to be formalized with a letter to NATO
    before the alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary in April with a
    summit in the French city of Strasbourg.
    13.03.2009 GMT+04:00

    After more than 40 years France returns to the united structures of
    NATO command. Though we shouldn't hope that this return of
    «prodigal son» can lead to further changes in the
    alliance, the fact itself is symbolically significant. `The moment has
    come to put an end to this situation because it is in the interest of
    France and of Europe to do so,' Sarkozy told an audience of military
    officers, officials and international defense experts in Paris.

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hailed
    Sarkozy's decision to return France to the fold. `Its full
    participation in all the civil and military decision-making and
    planning processes cannot but strengthen the alliance further,' de
    Hoop Scheffer said in a statement. France is already NATO's fourth
    largest contributor of troops. France has long played a major role in
    NATO operations, fielding troops under allied command in Bosnia,
    Kosovo and now particularly in the dangerous Afghan
    campaign. Meanwhile, Sarkozy says France will maintain control over
    its nuclear arsenal. It would maintain its independent nuclear
    deterrent outside NATO command structures.

    Former President Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from NATO in 1966
    because he felt that U.S. power in Europe needed to be limited as it
    was affecting France's independence. However, France never left the
    alliance itself. Defence Minister Herve Morin rejected claims France
    would now be forced to go along with the US on issues like the war
    with Iraq, which it vehemently opposed. Germany, he noted, has
    remained fully integrated in NATO, yet opposed the war. Renewing
    France's relations with NATO `will benefit the alliance, benefit
    Europe and benefit France', Mr. Morin said. `It will be done without
    calling into question the independence of France. Indeed, it would
    allow France to take a greater role in shaping military strategy,' he
    argued, BBC reports.

    President of France was right in his calculations of returning into
    NATO especially at this moment. France could not rejoin NATO under
    George Bush, risking the country's image like Great Britain that fully
    supported the American President and won the distrustful laurels of
    «Friend Tony». With Barack Obama in power, the situation
    is quite different. It would be much easier for President Sarkozy to
    find a common language with a person that is going to withdraw the
    troops from Iraq, meanwhile trying to somehow resolve the Afghan
    conflict. France's return is expected to be formalized with a letter
    to NATO before the alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary in April
    with a summit in the French city of Strasbourg.

    The talks on NATO-CSTO cooperation have become more intense lately. In
    the words of CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha, `NATO and its
    Russian-dominated counterpart, the Collective Security Treaty
    Organization (CSTO), should work together to form a new security
    system in Europe. Nowadays, the system of the balance of power in
    Europe is failing. The security architecture has to be re-made. I see
    no reason for a collision between the CSTO and NATO. We are ready to
    unite our efforts. Both organizations deal with problems of security,
    such as terrorism, drug smuggling and illegal migration. The CSTO has
    been pushing for the last four to five years for more cooperation with
    NATO on those issues. But, unfortunately, NATO is not ready to talk
    with us,' CSTO Secretary General told journalists in Brussels. The
    interesting point in this connection is that France's decision is
    positively perceived by Moscow. According to Russian media, Nikolas
    Sarkozy notified the Kremlin about his intentions in due time .

    In a word, everyone is content, and first of all - Sarkozy. What is
    coming next? France has always been trying to play the first fiddle in
    European orchestra and in NATO too. At the beginning of the current
    year French Ambassador to Armenia Serge Smessov stated that `If NATO
    is unable to cope with putting things in order, the joint European
    forces can do it.' And though the diplomat specified neither format of
    forces, nor the country that would take the command, most likely
    Smessov suggested France¦
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