Paris says US reassessment of engagement with allies opportunity ‘to make NATO more European’

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday described the US reassessment of its engagement with European allies within NATO as an opportunity to strengthen Europe’s role in the alliance as foreign ministers gathered for a summit in Sweden.

“The United States’ reassessment of its level of engagement on the European continent within the Alliance is not a recent development … I see this as an opportunity to strengthen Europe’s role within the Alliance, to make NATO more European, to develop our capabilities and our vision within it, and to take on greater responsibility,” Barrot told reporters ahead of the NATO meeting.

He further stressed the need for solidarity mechanisms binding allies to their closest partners and neighbors.

“From that perspective, calls by certain French political figures for France to withdraw from NATO are clearly unreasonable and entirely irresponsible,” Barrot said.

Pointing to growing threats, particularly near the Baltic states due to the Russia-Ukraine war, he noted that Baltic countries would view such a move as a betrayal.

“Such distancing from an organization that, since 1949, has enabled us to deter and ward off every form of threat would be a mistake,” Barrot added.