Monday, March 18, 2019

France's Defense Minister Questions The U.S. Commitment To NATO

French Defense Minister Florence Parly said the European members of NATO should build their 'autonomy' amid questions over US commitment to the alliance

Reuters: French minister expresses concern about long-term U.S. commitment to NATO

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Monday that Europe was concerned about the United States’ long-term commitment to NATO and implicitly criticized President Donald Trump’s approach toward the military alliance.

Trump, as the alliance’s de facto leader, has made defense spending a priority after years of defense cuts following the 1945-90 Cold War. He has questioned NATO’s value to Washington.

“What Europeans are worried about is this: will the U.S. commitment be perennial?,” Parly said during an event in Washington. She will meet with her American counterpart at the Pentagon on Monday to discuss issues including Syria.

“The alliance should be unconditional, otherwise it is not an alliance. NATO’s solidarity clause is called Article 5, not article F-35,” Parly added, in a reference to the Lockheed-Martin F-35 jet fighter. She did not mention Trump specifically.

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Update: France questions if US support for NATO is 'perennial' (AFP)

WNU Editor: And the French Defense Minister does another dig at the U.S. .... French Defense Chief: ‘It’s Called Article 5, Not Article F-35’ (Breaking Defense).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The question should be which NATO European nations will defend against Russian aggression? Alternatively which NATO nation will build a robust military dedicated to the NATO mission?

Answers so far is Germany is not included in either answers.

Another question is which NATO nation will turn over 70% of its natural gas supplies to Russia? Germany

NATO with Germany beholden to Russia and so militarily feeble is a drag on NATO, at best.

Anonymous said...

There is no reason for NATO to exist anymore, but globalist Western European leaders are trying hard to sucker the United States into continue paying for Europe's defense, while in the meantime they continue to undermine the Trump Administration. The US should greatly reduce the US role in NATO. Maybe Brussels can elevate the position of it's powerful new Nato member Montenegro?

Mike Feldhake said...

Lately, EU and NATO membership gets under the skin of Russia. It also 'checks' politically making it harder for them to influence the member nations. Therefore, NATO does continue to serve as a platform for coordination on several fronts. This 'dig' is just media noise to make headlines, unworthy of being posted as news.

Mike Feldhake said...

'checks' Russia politically...