The call of a number of French politicians for the country's withdrawal from NATO is not an empty phrase.
He is gaining more and more supporters who disagree with the actions of the United States and want independence from them. This is reported by the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Today, despite the fact that the demand for withdrawal from NATO is put forward mainly by sovereignists of all stripes - from the deputy of the National Assembly of the country from the party "Unconquered France" Jean-Luc Melenchon, his fellow parliamentarian - leader of the conservative National Front party Marine Le Pen to right-wing journalist Eric Zemmour - they all agree on the ineffectiveness of the alliance, the publication points out.
"It is worth remembering the words of President Emmanuel Macron in October 2019 that "NATO is in a state of brain death." And the recent fiasco with the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the humiliation of France in connection with the cancellation of the contract for the purchase of our submarines by Australia under US pressure only worsened the situation," the newspaper notes.
A group of experts, including former French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrin, has been working on this issue since last year.
"The withdrawal of France from the NATO joint command will allow us to restore sovereignty and independence, in particular, on the basis of the French nuclear deterrent force, the only one in Europe. The leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy (president from 2007 to 2012) in the international arena has made France a respected partner. But his successors have weakened France and its influence, and we are no longer respected. NATO was created in the context of the Cold War against an enemy that no longer exists. Instinctively, the alliance takes Russia, which has not been the USSR for a long time, for an enemy, while this is not the case," said Eric Ciotti, a deputy from the Republicans party.
According to him, as quoted by Eadaily, "the intervention in Mali proved that France was alone, despite the alliances, and the defeat in Afghanistan proved that NATO was outdated."