The massive public criticism of the French President Emmanuel Macron at NATO has alarmed the German government. The Alliance is currently experiencing "brain death," Macron had said. Whether Article 5, the mutual assistance obligation and life insurance of the Alliance, still funktoniere, he did not know, so the Frenchman in an interview with the "Economist".
The discussion about Macron's wake-up call now threatens to overshadow the NATO summit in early December in London. In order to secure the Alliance's political cohesion, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) intends to propose to his NATO counterpart at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday the establishment of a commission of experts on the future of the Alliance.
Maas' push was announced on the sidelines of a trip to Ukraine on Tuesday. The state of NATO is clearly driving the German foreign minister - this was observed during the visit to Kiev. "After Macron's fundamental criticism, and especially given the uncertainty that this causes among many of our allies, there can be no simple 'Keep it up!' Before the Foreign Affairs Minister meeting and the upcoming Nato birthday summit in London. ", said the delegation of the Minister. "Otherwise we run the risk of only further intensifying the uncertainty in the alliance and of promoting a split over which third parties may be happy."
Guest contribution by Jürgen Trittin
The expert panel should include former foreign and defense ministers and senior officials from all core groups of NATO (East, South, Transatlantic, Turkey). The group is expected to submit a report by the time of the next regular NATO summit, that is, after the presidential elections in the US. The initiative is coordinated within the federal government, they say.
Military questions are discussed extensively in NATO, according to the analysis in Berlin. But there is a lack of strategic discussion. Maas wants to strengthen his proposal, above all, the political dimension of the defense alliance.
"We must not limit the necessary discussion to military capabilities," it said in the Foreign Office. "NATO is an alliance of values and has always been a political place, a place where foreign and security policy strategies have been discussed and planned across the Atlantic."
According to Macron's speech and the uncoordinated actions of the Americans and Turks in Syria, it was evident "that such a discussion about the great strategic lines is urgently needed and lacking," the Foreign Ministry's delegation said.
In the medium term, Maas seems to be seeking a closer exchange of NATO partners on political and strategic issues. A role model could be the regular informal summit of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich meetings). It was necessary, it was said on Tuesday in the delegation of the Minister, "to close the void of political discussion in the Alliance".
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How the proposal arrives at the NATO partners is unclear. The US has shown little interest in political-strategic discussions within the Alliance since the election of President Donald Trump. The only issue for Trump was the low level of defense spending by his partners, especially Germany. The unilateral action of the NATO members USA and Turkey in Syria has also damaged the Alliance.
What is interesting, however, above all is how Maas's plea for a political deepening in Paris is taken up. The French have always been alienating NATO and have often resisted closer coordination within the Alliance. President Macron has stung his European partners several times in recent months. With his unpredictability, so it is said in Berlin, Macron increasingly remind of the counterpart in the White House. Some even speak of "intellectual trumpism".
Even if the NATO foreign ministers approve of the suggestion made by their German counterpart on Wednesday, the crucial question is whether the heads of state and government will issue an official commission for such a commission of experts in London on 3 December.
