France set to reconcile with Nato

President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to announce that France will return to Nato's military command, reversing four decades of self-imposed exile.

Mr Sarkozy is expected to confirm the decision in a speech to defence experts in Paris shortly.

President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of Nato's integrated military command in 1966, saying it undermined France's sovereignty.

Critics say France will now be no more than "a clone of Great Britain".

Correspondents say France's "independence" from Nato is dearly treasured by many French, and Mr Sarkozy's move has provoked a furore among those who fear it will now have to bow to US dominance.

"Nothing today justifies returning to Nato military command," said the leader of the opposition Socialists, Martine Aubry.

"There's no hurry, no fundamental need, except for this Atlanticism that's becoming an ideology," she said.

Military action

But Defence Minister Herve Morin rejected claims that France would now be forced to go along with the US on issues like the war with Iraq, which it vehemently opposed.


If tomorrow, we integrated into Nato, would we, could we, maintain the position that we have done on Iraq?
Dominique de Villepin
Former French foreign minister

French split over rejoining Nato
2007: France edges closer to Nato

Germany, he noted, has remained fully integrated in Nato yet opposed the war.

Renewing France's relations with Nato "will benefit the alliance, benefit Europe and benefit France. It will be done without calling into question the independence of France", Mr Morin said.

Indeed it would allow France to take a greater role in shaping military strategy, he argued.

While France withdrew from Nato's decision-making core, its nuclear weapons structure and planning committee, it never left the alliance itself.

Indeed it has been one of the most active members, supplying troops under allied command in Bosnia, Kosovo and in Afghanistan, where it has suffered significant losses.

Analysts say France has actually been gradually moving closer to the heart of Nato since the end of the Cold War.

Mr Sarkozy is due to announce the move at a seminar at the Ecole Militaire staff college in Paris, and to formalise it with a letter to Nato before the alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary next month with a summit in the French city of Strasbourg.