Macron defends ‘wake-up call’ for NATO after talks with chief

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron stood by his claim Thursday that NATO is suffering “brain death” with no strategic cooperation among members, after talks with alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg ahead of a high-stakes meeting outside London next week. “I totally stand by raising these ambiguities because I believe it was irresponsible of us to keep talking about financial and technical matters given the stakes we currently face,” Macron said at a joint news conference after the talks. “A wake-up call was necessary,” he said, regarding NATO´s failure to address pressing challenges such as relations with Russia, the subject of Turkey, or even “who is the enemy?”It is no longer Russia or China, Macron said: “Our common enemy... is the terrorism which has struck us all. Macron´s “brain death” comment, published in an interview with the Economist magazine this month, drew sharp criticism from allies, not least Stoltenberg, who warned against undermining the transatlantic alliance. Stoltenberg said Thursday that “in uncertain times, we need strong multilateral institutions like NATO,” and that he had “good and open discussions” with Macron. He praised in particular France´s role in fighting the spread of Islamic terrorism in the Sahel region of Western Africa, which saw the death of 13 French soldiers in Mali this week when two of their helicopters collided while engaging with insurgents trying to flee. Macron said that at next week´s NATO meeting in Watford, northwest of London, that he would urge allies to get more involved in the Sahel fight.

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