France and Germany want experts to brainstorm ideas to rejuvenate NATO after Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria unleashed heated debate about policy coordination among the 29 military allies at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
The foreign ministers of both countries launched parallel but similar proposals designed to strengthen NATO as a platform for political debate by seeking expert help.
This aim met with “broad support” at Wednesday’s closed meeting of NATO foreign ministers, General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg refused to comment on which proposal he preferred: “The main message is that we are all united on the message of the importance of strengthening NATO.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after the talks he was “confident that we have hit the right note with our proposal and have started discussions that need to be had within NATO.”
“I am sure we will engage with this further,” Maas said, adding that Berlin and Paris had discussed the proposals beforehand. Germany has yet to make details of its idea public but has suggested that Stoltenberg lead the process.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his NATO counterparts that a group of independent political figures could write a report on the alliance’s goals and values as it faces new challenges, according to diplomatic sources.
The trans-Atlantic military alliance needs to be rebalanced, with “more capable and more responsible” Europeans playing a greater role, the French minister said, the sources added.
The proposals come in the wake of a damning assessment of NATO’s current state from French President Emmanuel Macron that drew reproval from many of his allies.
He charged in an interview with the Economist magazine that neither Istanbul nor Washington consulted their NATO allies when Turkey launched its incursion into northern Syria following a US pull-out.
This was evidence that NATO was suffering “brain death,” he said – an allegation that irritated many NATO members but provoked debate about how to use NATO as a platform for political discussion.
The United States said it welcomed the French-German proposal. “Every institution, every structure that’s been created should constantly be evaluated against whether it’s fit for purpose,” according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
NATO foreign ministers were preparing on Wednesday for a leaders summit on December 3-4 in London, which also marks the alliance’s 70th year.
Arms control, increased European defence expenditure – a long-standing desire of US President Donald Trump – and the rising role of China on the world stage were also discussed on Wednesday, according to Stoltenberg.