Sarkozy woos NATO

The decision by French President Nicholas Sarkozy to rejoin NATO’s military command has reopened a sensitive debate over the country’s strategic independence, a hallmark of French foreign policy since France left NATO’s integrated command in 1966.

At the time, then-President Charles de Gaulle sought to distance France from an alliance that was increasingly dominated by the United States.

Mr. Sarkozy reversed course last week.

“We can renew our relations with NATO without fear for our independence and without running the risk of being unwillingly dragged into a war,” Mr. Sarkozy said in a key address to some 3,000 senior officers in Paris.

Defense Minister Herve Morin noted that France has been part of all NATO operations since 1989.

But such reassurances did little to quell opposition from France’s left, which fiercely criticized the move as a shift toward a pro-U.S. stance.

“Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen to align with the outgoing, neoconservative Bush administration, which has been failing everywhere it has intervened,” said former defense minister Paul Quiles of the opposition Socialist party.

Two months ago, Mr. Quiles resigned from an advisory committee that Mr. Sarkozy relied on to make his decision.

Mr. Sarkozy stressed that France would remain “an independent ally” and keep its nuclear deterrent forces under strict national control as conditions for rejoining the NATO command.

Two other conditions involve maintaining autonomy for France’s participation in any NATO operations and autonomy of French command over its peacetime forces.

“Regarding requirements, the measure is actually not going to be that significant as France already takes part in military planning in cases of intervention,” explained defense analyst Jean-Pierre Maulny from the French Center for International and Strategic Studies, known by its French acronym, IRIS.

“The political symbol here is much stronger than the technical reform itself,” Mr. Maulny said.

Mr. Sarkozy’s objective is to set up a strong European pillar within NATO so Europe gains influence regarding U.S. decisions in military affairs. “This is a real challenge,” added IRIS chief Pascal Boniface.

“But if we make it, the NATO France is about to rejoin will not be the same as the one France left 40 years ago,” Mr. Boniface said.

In recent years, France has been a strong supporter of a proposed autonomous European defense capability outside of NATO.

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