President Obama: Frankrijk's terugkeer in de NAVO versterkt de alliantie (en)
EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG – France's full reintegration in NATO will strengthen the alliance, US president Barack Obama i said on Friday (3 April) in Strasbourg.
"NATO was founded on the principle that European security was American security and vice versa. This pillar of US policy has not changed and we reaffirm it. With France's reintegration in the high structures of NATO, that principle will be upheld," Mr Obama said at a joint press conference with Nicolas Sarkozy i.
The French Parliament last month voted in favour of France's full reintegration in NATO, ending a 43 year-old rift created by Charles de Gaulle who pulled out from the alliance's military in protest over what he perceived as US domination of NATO policies.
"France has sent soldiers in NATO-led military operations, but has nobody in the committees designing the policies who affect our troops," Mr Sarkozy said as an argument in favour of his country's rejoining the alliance – a move which is still controversial in France, even within his own centre-right party.
Mr Sarkozy carefully orchestrated France's full return to NATO's fold to coincide
with NATO's 60th anniversary summit, co-hosted by the French city of Strasbourg and the two German cities of Baden-Baden and Kehl, across the river Rhine, to symbolise Franco-German reconciliation brought about by NATO.
Visibly discomforted by his shorter stature when standing next to Barack Obama, Mr Sarkozy was the first to rush up the stairs to the Rohan palace in the historic centre of Strasbourg after a family picture with his US counterpart, his wife Michelle and the French first lady Carla Bruni (who was wearing flat shoes for the event).
Mr Obama and Mr Sarkozy later on headed off to Baden-Baden where the now 28 NATO delegations, including new members Albania and Croatia, are meeting in three parallel dinners – heads of state, foreign ministers and defence.
The new strategy for Afghanistan, NATO-Russia relations and the likely appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen i as NATO's next secretary general are on the agenda.
On Saturday morning, NATO leaders are set to cross the "Europe bridge" between Strasbourg and Kehl, highlighting the alliance's role in reuniting Europe. They are then set to resume the NATO working session in Strasbourg and finish off early afternoon.
Meanwhile, security measures were tightened up in Strasbourg, but protests remained calm and peaceful on Friday. One day before, riot police clashed with protesters and arrested 300 people, of which some 100 were still detained on Friday after they destroyed telephone booths and attempted to build barricades.
No extra French troops for Afghanistan
The terrorist threat coming out of Afghanistan is more likely to target Europe than the US, Mr Obama said while stressing the need for broader engagement in Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda is still recruiting.
Mr Sarkozy, however, ruled out sending any supplementary troops to Afghanistan, stressing that France had already increased the number of soldiers last year.
Instead, France is committed to doing more on the civilian side and contributing military police (gendarmes) in the run up to the 20 August Afghan presidential elections.
Despite previous calls from the Obama administration for increased burden sharing in Afghanistan, where the main efforts are being made by US, British and Canadian troops, the US president said he was not disappointed by France not committing more troops.
He praised Mr Sarkozy for his "energy in foreign policy" and said France was not a country which he had to "drag kicking and screaming into Afghanistan," because it recognised that the threat was real and not only directed against the US.
The UK, however, is set to commit extra troops, news agencies reported, as Gordon Brown travelled to Baden-Baden on Friday night.
Engaging Russia without endangering Eastern Europe
It is important for NATO allies to re-engage with Russia, while understanding that the independence of neighbouring states had to be respected, Mr Obama said in Strasbourg. The bilateral meeting he had in London a day earlier with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev had been "terrific," he said.
"We had a dialogue about how to maintain stability while respecting the autonomy of countries. I was a critic of Russia's invasion of Georgia and continue to believe that despite Mr Sarkozy's efforts in brokering the ceasefire agreement we have not seen a stabilisation of the situation," Mr Obama said.
"Our clear message to Russia was that we want to work with them, but they can't go back to the old way of doing business."
Mr Sarkozy also said that Russia needed to understand that the USSR is over and that there are no satellite states any longer. "But we are not going to reinvent the Cold War and it is excellent what Mr Obama is saying, that we need to re-engage with Russia," he added.
Despite Russian criticism reiterated on Friday, NATO leaders are set to reaffirm the commitment made at the last summit in Bucharest last year, that Ukraine and Georgia would become members when they meet the criteria.
Speaking on Friday to university students in London, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that "before making decisions about expanding the bloc, one must think about the consequences."
"I said this frankly to my new comrade, US president Barack Obama. NATO needs to think about preserving its unity and not harming relations with its neighbours."