U.S. has turned its back on us: Macron

PARIS • NATO is experiencing “brain death” and America’s lack of willingness to defend its members has placed Europe “on the edge of a precipice,” French President Emmanuel Macron has warned.

The alliance “only works if the guarantor of last resort functions as such,” said Macron. “I’d argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States,” he told The Economist.

He said the signs were that America under the presidency of Donald Trump was “turning its back on us,” as it demonstrated starkly with its unexpected troop withdrawal from northeastern Syria last month, forsaking its Kurdish allies.

“What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO,” said the French president in the interview conducted at the Élysée Palace on Oct. 21.

When asked whether he believed in the effectiveness of Article 5, the principle that if one NATO member is attacked all would come to its aid, he said: “I don’t know, but what will Article 5 mean tomorrow?”

Europe is now dealing, for the first time, with a U.S. president who “doesn’t share our idea of the European project,” he is cited as saying. At the same time, Europe is facing the rise of China and the authoritarian turn of regimes in Russia and Turkey. Internally, it is facing Brexit and political instability.

This toxic mix was “unthinkable five years ago,” Macron argued. Europe stands on “the edge of a precipice,” he cautioned.

“If we don’t wake up … there’s a considerable risk that in the long run we will disappear geopolitically, or at least that we will no longer be in control of our destiny.” Macron defended France’s controversial decision to unilaterally block EU enlargement in the western Balkans, arguing that it was “absurd” to open up the EU to new members before reforming accession procedures, although he said that he would be prepared to reconsider if such conditions were met.

Albania and North Macedonia were blocked from beginning membership talks by France in October.

Beyond market expansion, Europe must start thinking of itself as a strategic power, said the French president. That should start with regaining “military sovereignty,” and reopening a dialogue with Russia despite suspicion from Poland and other countries that were once under Soviet domination.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Thursday rejected Macron’s view, saying that such comments were not necessary.

“I don’t think that such sweeping judgments are necessary, even if we have problems and need to pull together,” said Merkel.