why Macron thinks NATO is in a state of "brain death"

By
M.Zack
-

The remarks of the Head of State surprise, in full commemoration of the 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

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President Emmanuel Macron at a conference in Brussels on 18 October 2019.
President Emmanuel Macron at a conference in Brussels on 18 October 2019. JOHANNA GERON / REUTERS

"What we are experiencing is the brain death of NATO. You have to be lucid. " Emmanuel Macron provokes the debate among his allies, in a very long interview devoted to the sovereignty of Europe granted to The Economist on October 21st, and published Thursday, November 7th by the British weekly, in English and French.

of the "Radical words" for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who broke off unusually from her counterpart. "I do not think that such an inopportune judgment is necessary, did she react to Berlin, even if we have problems, even if we have to pull ourselves together. NATO remains vital to our security. "

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"NATO remains one of the most important strategic partnerships in history," Bidding US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a visit to Germany on the occasion of the commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall thirty years ago. But New York Democrat Senator Chris Murphy was worried about Twitter: "Trump's constant attacks on NATO and his indifference to allies have shaken confidence in collective security. It's a disaster. "

While British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab called on Allies to honor their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense by 2024: "This is the surest way to strengthen rather than weaken the transatlantic relationship. " Mme Merkel said Thursday that his country could reach this effort "2031".

"Junior partner" of Americans

A month from the mini-summit of 70 years of NATO in London, which is organized in the form of a short meeting to avoid a bad Tweet Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron justifies his remarks by the strategic change came of Washington: the questioning of the guarantee given by the United States to the system of Western values, brought since 1945 by a Europe "Built as the" junior partner "of Americans". The turning point was made ten years ago, says the head of state: "It's not just the Trump administration. This is the idea theorized by President Obama: "I am the president of the Pacific." So the United States is looking elsewhere. "