NATO/Frankreich

©EPA/VPM

12 Feb. 2009 NATO Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al Jaap de Hoop Schef­fer went to Paris, France, on 12 Feb­ru­ary to meet with Pres­i­dent Nico­las Sarkozy and dis­cuss prepa­ra­tions for the upcom­ing Strasbourg/Kehl Sum­mit.

Pri­or to the meet­ing, the Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al spoke at the French Nation­al Assem­bly dur­ing a joint pub­lic ses­sion by the For­eign Affairs and Nation­al Defence Committees. 

Mr. De Hoop Schef­fer not­ed that “NATO today is no longer the NATO of 1966”, when Pres­i­dent Charles de Gaulle with­drew France from the Alliance’s mil­i­tary com­mand, and described how much the Alliance had trans­formed since then. 

“NATO’s mis­sions have changed; it has also reformed its struc­tures accord­ing­ly”, said the Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al, adding that “a ren­o­vat­ed Alliance needs France, and that a France who had com­plete­ly rein­te­grat­ed with NATO struc­tures would have every­thing to gain”. 

Source:
NATO