French officials make case to rejoin Nato command

Frances defence minister on Wednesday staunchly defended strengthened military ties between the US and Europe as France prepared to rejoin Natos integrated command after an absence of more than four decades. In 1966, President Charles de Gaulle abruptly pulled France out of the Nato command and evicted all allied troops and bases, including its military headquarters, from France in an effort to assert sovereignty over its own territory.
De Gaulles blunt assertion of French independence at the height of the Cold War came as a shock at the time and caused a rift with Washington that continues even today. ``We need a renewed trans-Atlantic partnership between an America that is open and a Europe that is being strengthened, Defense Minister Herve Morin told a high-level military conference on France, European defence and Nato in the 21st century.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will speak later at the conference about his plans to put the country back into Natos military command. Sarkozy has long promised the step and is expected to formalise it with a letter to Natos leadership before a summit April 3-4 in Strasbourg to celebrate the alliances 60th anniversary. But Sarkozy faces intense political opposition at home over the move. While he does not need parliamentary approval for it, his government will face a no-confidence vote in parliament next week on the subject.
Morin batted aside fears of opposition leftists and some Gaullist conservative members of his own party, both of whom are wary of Sarkozys pro-US tilt and fear it will limit Frances ability to decide its own policies. The ``renovation of relations of France with Nato will benefit the alliance, benefit Europe and benefit France. It will be done without calling into question the independence of France, Morin said. He urged France to take on its full responsibilities in the alliance and act like an ``adult.
Although it pulled out of the central decision-making core and remains outside the alliances nuclear group and planning committee, France never left the alliance itself. Today, it is among the top five contributors to allied military operations and the fourth- largest contributor to alliance budgets for Nato operations.