French President Emmanuel Macron says France will re-evaluate the relationship it has with Europe and Russia with the view that a Trump America may or may not have its back….
While American Defense Sec Mattis has gone out of his way to assert support….
His boss, Trump?
Has been less than supportive of NATO and European defense…..
Merkel’s Germany is actually moving ahead in doing a oil deal with Russia that earn that country badly needed revenue…
Things are quite mixed up on several levels….
French President Emmanuel Macron announced an “exhaustive review” of defense cooperation in the European Union, claiming the EU can no longer rely on the U.S. for its security, reports the AFP.
The big picture: Macron said defense proposals would be revealed in the coming months, and that discussions would include all European countries — even Russia. President Trump left his European allies reeling after the July NATO summit in Brussels, during which he made some veiled threats to withdraw the U.S. from the military alliance if other countries didn’t boost their defense spending…..
Note….
American President’s Bush and Obama have been after the NATO countries to increase their NATO defense spending….
But none have been as direct as Trump…
But then Donald Trump IS a direct and hard charging guy on most things ….
What a reverse from sixty years ago, when the U.S. and U.K. were trying to hold NATO together, while French President Charles de Gaulle was vetoing British entry into the European Economic Community (the E.E.C., now European Union), withdrawing from NATO.s’ military command (which moved to Brussels) and establishing an independent French nuclear force de frappe.
Now it is France and Germany that are trying to keep the Atlantic and Western European alliances together in the face of Brexit and Donald Trump.
(It is no accident, as Soviet commentators used to say, that both of the latter were receiving a hearty assist from Russian intelligence.)
I don’t take Macron’s words seriously DSD…..
Mattis and Congress will fight to hold the alliance together…
The US has re-activated the 2nd Fleet for the Atlantic and East Coast….
NATO funding was kept in tact….
And Mattis IS bulking up on help for Eastern Europe….
Russia , like China is working for closer economic ties while advancing militarily…
Trump maybe around for for only two years more….
Things will work out…
BTW?
Trump is going to be sitting next to the French President for their annual military parade according to reports….
I thought that France’s “annual military parade” was six weeks ago, on Bastille Day or July 14th (le Quatorze Juillet).
Next year Trump will visit the parade was the word INSTEAD of sitting home to watch his own.…