French Defense Minister urged not to leave NATO

PARIS (TASS): The French Ministry of the Armed Forces does not consider it expedient for France to leave NATO after the scandalous termination of the contract for the construction of submarines with Australia with the participation of the United States. This was announced on Wednesday, speaking in the Senate, the head of department Florence Parley.
“What conclusions can be drawn in connection with the termination of the contract for the supply of submarines? Should we leave NATO by slamming the door? I do not think that such a step should be taken,” said the Minister.
“The last months have become very turbulent in the life of NATO. In particular, I mean the adventurous actions of Turkey in the Mediterranean. As well as the hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which was carried out inconsistently, which led, as we all saw, to very sad consequences,” Parley noted. “The position of the United States on the French contract for the supply of submarines has become another confirmation of the statement that we have been making for many months – there is currently no political dialogue in NATO,” she stressed.
Parley recalled that NATO’s main task is to protect Europe. “The United States plays a major role in this, but France also plays a certain role, in particular by providing solidarity support to the Baltic states within the framework of the NATO operation,” the minister said. “But we should not forget that the purpose of NATO’s existence is not confrontation with China, but ensuring transatlantic security. This is what Fra-nce intends to remind the United States,” Parley said.
“It is in this situation that the Allies decided, acting on the initiative of France and Germany, to begin a revision of the NATO Strategic Concept. This work will allow us to clarify the strategic concept in the future of the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid and coordinate it with the EU’s Strategic Compass roadmap. is the work that the Europeans have begun to strengthen the European Defense program.
“Being allies does not mean being hostage to the interests of the opposite side,” Parley said at the end of her speech.
Also, Macron and his American counterpart Bid-en held a telephone conversation on Wednesday. The Elysee Palace reported this to the BFMTV. The leaders of the two countries disc-ussed the situation after A-ustralia broke the contract for the supply of French su-bmarines in favor of US.
“The conversation betw-een the two presidents took place. In the near future, a joint Franco-American co-mmunique will be publis-hed,” the French presidential administration said. “T-he presidents of the two c-ountries agreed that the op-ening of consultations bet-ween the allies on issues of strategic interest to France and European partners would avoid the current situation.”