By Bruno Waterfield - 22nd February 2005
Jacques Chirac has backed a controversial call to re-think NATO while opening a top-level alliance summit.
The French leader lent support to a recent call from Gerhard Schroeder to revamp NATO in the light of growing EU integration.
Chirac’s comments made to NATO heads of state and government come on the second day of US President George W Bush’s European charm offensive.
“Europe and the US are true partners, which is why we need to dialogue and listen to each other more,” he said.
“Also, as the German Federal Chancellor has emphasised, we must continue to take the measure of the changes that have occurred on the continent of Europe.”
Schroeder argued on February 15 that NATO was “no longer the primary venue where Trans-Atlantic partners discuss and coordinate strategies”.
Washington continues to stress the centrality of the 56-year old NATO as the primary institution of the Trans-Atlantic relationship.
But Bush’s ongoing trip to Brussels and top-level meetings with the EU, as well as NATO, shows that Europe has become a major player in Trans-Atlantic relations for the 21st century.
Chirac stressed a dual relationship between NATO and the EU – and argued that the alliance’s staying power would depend on Europe.
“In a world fraught with new challenges, our common commitment in the service of peace and of our ideals is what makes our alliance fully legitimate,” he told NATO leaders.
“The way to ensure the durability of the strategic partnership forged by the Treaty of Washington is through a close, steadfast and balanced relationship between America and Europe.”
The French president also highlighted Europe’s growing defence role following EU takeovers of NATO peace-keeping operations in the Balkans and a new European constitution.
“France's commitment in the service of peace, like that of its European partners, will also increasingly be expressed in the operations of the EU,” he said.
“Europe is steadily building up its defense capability. This development is a positive opportunity for our alliance, for a stronger, more united Europe plainly implies a stronger, more effective Atlantic alliance.”
Chirac, a leading EU critic of the US-led Iraq invasion, also pledged France to do its bit to help out with NATO and EU training of Iraqi security forces.
“France is playing its part in that, in keeping with the undertakings given.”
“Beyond that, both at a bilateral level and within the framework of the EU, France is concentrating its efforts on consolidating the rule of law and on training for the Iraqi police,” he said.
“On the strength of its proposals, it is now the leading contributor to the mission the EU plans to undertake in the coming weeks.”
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