French President Emmanuel Macron says the absence of US leadership is causing a "Brain death" of NATO and urged Europe to start acting as a global strategic force.
"What we are seeing is the brain death of NATO," Macron said in an interview with The Economist published on Thursday.
President Donald Trump "does not share our idea of the European project," he said, adding that the United States was showing signs of "turning its back on us" and then set an example of an unexpected withdrawal of troops from northern Syria.
Macron says European members of the 29-member alliance should "reassess the reality of NATO in the light of US commitment," according to the Associated Press.
The French president added: "There is no coordination of the strategic decision of the United States with its NATO partners and we are witnessing aggression from another NATO partner, Turkey, in an area where our interests are at risk, without coordination." AFP reported.
Macron and Trump are expected to join their counterparts in London on December 3-4 to attend NATO leaders' meetings.
Trump has been highly critical of European countries, saying they are not spending as much on the defense sector, and stressing that Washington will not continue to shoulder the financial burden until it protects European countries.
Trump, who has adopted America's first slogan, says Washington is understood to support weak states at the military level, but he is surprised that Europe does not allocate a significant proportion of its GDP to military affairs.
By Craig Melon November 07, 2019
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