The NATO summit preempted by calling on them to address their own security issue
France urges Europeans to strengthen their defense forces
Trump during the previous NATO summit, where he demanded a stronger and blunter language for Europe to increase its defense spending.
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Florence Parly: Strengthening Europe's power is a sympathy for NATO and not a threat to it.
EPA
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Listening attentively to French Defense Minister Florence Parly, it seems as if France will miss the bullying of US President Donald Trump at the upcoming May NATO summit, and this does not mean that Parly and its president, Emmanuel Macron, do not welcome the United States back to the United States. Diplomacy is led by President Joe Biden, and Parly says it brings a sense of “happiness,” but France is also concerned that renewed transatlantic “love” could slow, or even halt, the awakening among Europeans to the need to spend more money. On the issue of defense, which Trump demanded in a stronger and more blunt tone than his predecessors from American presidents, Barley told the newspaper “Politco”, in an interview in her office in Paris: “There is one constant in the Euro-Atlantic relationship, that the Europeans must address the issue of their security themselves.” She added:"President Trump's tough talk about burden-sharing has been blunt in form but it speaks the truth, and I'm pretty sure the Biden administration will see that Europeans should care more about their security."
France has the largest army in the European Union after "Brexit", and remains the only member of the European Union that has a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, in addition to that France also possesses nuclear weapons, and there is no country in the Union that trades with it in terms of the ability to deploy Despite this, the member states of the European Union accuse Paris of indifference to its security needs and of seeking to impose its strategic vision and double its power through it. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic criticize the French endeavor to strengthen European defenses, as a threat to the unity of the "NATO" alliance. Or a plan to support the development of the French arms and aircraft industry.
But Parly strongly rejects these allegations, insisting that a stronger European defense is necessary to support "NATO", and says that European allies cannot ignore changes in the strategic context of the relationship between the two sides of the Atlantic, regardless of who lives in the White House. The strategic interests of the United States have shifted structurally to Asia, regardless of the Europeans’ desire.” She added: “If we want to play our role fully, we must continue as good allies, and work to develop our defense efforts. In fact, being strong Europeans represents a positive contribution.” NATO, not a threat to weaken it.”
European contributions will be one of the delicate issues that NATO leaders will discuss, in a calm atmosphere without Trump's presence, at their upcoming summit in Brussels on June 14. The leaders are expected to update the concept of the alliance, which has been around for nearly a decade, and define NATO's goals and essential security tasks in preparation for 2030.
These challenges include Washington’s increasing security focus on China, which many allies do not share, as well as Russia’s hostile activities in Ukraine, Belarus and others, not to mention the approaching arms control agreements, which directly affect European security, to their end, and the instability in southern Southeast Europe, New Cyber Threats, and Alliance Internal Splits.
In fact, failure to respond adequately to these challenges will lead to questioning the importance of this alliance, which Macron warned two years ago that it was suffering “brain death.” However, as France scramble to strengthen European defenses, the proposal of the Secretary-General of NATO North Atlantic, Jens Stoltenberg, to increase the alliance's budget, was not successful.
During the interview, Parly avoided using the phrase "European strategic independence", except that she said that the phrase frightened some allies, and France supported this phrase to promote NATO as a pillar of Europe, but some allies fear the risk of fragmenting limited European defense resources, and diverting political energy away from the alliance. NATO.
But Parly dismissed these concerns, hastily supplying NATO operations ranging from troop deployments to reinforce the alliance's presence on the border between Estonia and Russia, to naval patrols in the Mediterranean, air protection over the Baltic states, in which France has a strong participation, and the firepower and readiness it adds "I don't understand this eternal debate about the possibility of competition between (NATO) and European countries," Barley said. "We as European countries have our voice, and we have a lot of common interests with the United States, but that doesn't mean we don't have our own issues." It is us that must be defended.”
As an example, Parly pointed to China, and despite the recent hardening of positions, European countries do not necessarily have to share Washington's concern about China, and said: "If the United States and China are in a state of confrontation, do we Europeans need to be? In this confrontation?
The speed with which the administration of President Joe Biden made the decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, without consulting NATO, which participates in the international forces, alarmed many European countries, and this position reminds us that although the tone of the United States has changed However, its view of national interests will continue to be the basis for its decisions, and although Parly said that strengthening the European Defense Force is still "developing at a very slow pace" there has been "amazing progress".
France is working to build a coalition of European countries willing to participate in the Rapid Intervention Initiative (I-12), which was launched in 2018, and to deploy special operations forces by a number of European countries in the Sahel region of Africa within the International Tabuka Forces. "There are some countries that are capable and willing that should not be excluded," Parly said. Among these countries are Sweden, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, which have deployed combat forces within the "Tabuca" forces, and Parly says that visits to the African continent with her European colleagues show Africans our security commitment to the region. .
“What I found wonderful when I was leaving Gao in Mali, my Czech counterpart said to me: We Europeans have two security issues, East and South, and the correct approach is not to say we are Czechs, because we are close to the East we have to take care of the East, and you French are close to the South,” Barley said. You have to take care of the south, and it is better that we do it together.” “What the Czech minister said shows a wonderfully shared strategic culture, and it is a work in progress, but it is reaching a state of concept.”
But defense experts warn that creating a European strategic culture will take a long time. Claudia Major, head of research at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said: “European strategic culture is not a French strategic culture, as it is not reasonable to create a strategic culture within three years within Eight countries.” In addition to the lack of operational preparedness, attempts to build a European defense capacity in other regions have proven to be a difficult issue.
Reem Mumtaz ■ Correspondent for "Politco" in France and Europe
biggest partnership
The Franco-German-Spanish partnership is the largest joint venture now proposed in Europe to create a next-generation combat aircraft program known as FCIS, at an estimated cost of €100 billion.
The project faces difficulties in financing, in addition to problems in intellectual property issues and joint work, and the project is still awaiting approval from the German Parliament.
Barley said that it is the responsibility of the German government for this project to see the light of day, adding: "The ball is now in the Germans' court, and I have confidence in my German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and I fully trust German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to lead this process through Parliament until the end."
France is building a coalition of European countries willing to participate in the Rapid Intervention Initiative (I-12), which was launched in 2018, and the deployment of special operations forces by a number of European countries, in the Sahel region in Africa within the International Tabuka Forces.
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