Back in 1966, then French President Charles de Gaulle had removed France as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. For those that do not know who de Gaulle is, he was the first president of the French Fifth Republic which was founded after World War II. During World War II, de Gaulle served as a general that led the Free French Forces.
He is also a veteran of World War I along with being a proponent of tank warfare. Since 1966, France has not been a member of NATO. Almost all of the European countries are part of NATO. This has been current French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s argument for bring the country back into NATO.
However, there are stipulations on European Union (EU) defense. It is said that it may concern Britain. There is the risk of ties between Britain and France being strained a bit. Recently, Sarkozy and British PM Gordon Brown have been working on a relationship between both France and Britain.
Sarkozy explained that almost all the partners are part of NATO. If and when France returns to being part of NATO, at least 50,000 soldiers will be relieved from duty. The money that would originally be used to pay those soldiers will be invested for equipment and intelligence systems.
However, Sarkozy’s stipulation is that the EU’s defense system needs to be one that complements that to NATO. Sarkozy will take the head of the rotating EU presidency in July. He said during that time, improving the defense of the EU will be one of his priorities.
Sarkozy received backlash from his own party and the Socialist Opposition. They attacked and accused Sarkozy on selling out the country. Critics say that Sarkozy had sold off France’s independence for NATO membership.