The future of NATO

The US and European nations clashed at NATO over ambitions to build a separate EU military structure. The heated exchange at a meeting of NATO envoys came as Washington stepped up pressure on its closest European ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to block efforts by EU states for closer defense cooperation. "The Americans are worried that Blair has gone a bit floppy," an alliance official said.

US ambassador Nicholas Burns lambasted the Franco-German initiative as the "most serious threat to the future of NATO". "It got a bit scratchy because of some of the language used. The atmospherics were not great," said another official.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld triggered the showdown by insisting at a NATO meeting in Colorado Springs last week on an open discussion of the EU's defense plans, which Washington fears could undermine NATO's role as guarantor of European security. France's ambassador argued forcefully that the EU was developing its common defense policy as part of negotiations over the first EU constitution, and that the US would be informed when consultations were over.

"Some European nations are saying this is an internal and ongoing debate, and that's what is driving the Americans wild," said one diplomat. France, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg have agreed to set up military headquarters in Brussels for EU crisis management operations, a move the US has criticized as a wasteful duplication of NATO's capabilities and a challenge to NATO's "preeminence". Washington became alarmed after a meeting between the leaders of France, Germany, and Britain in Berlin three weeks ago at which Blair appeared to soften his resistance to the EU defense plan. One European diplomat said the US was applying "massive pressure", especially on Britain and EU candidate countries, not to join the initiative (Reuters 19/17/03).

RH:
The new organization could easily be coordinated with NATO, and US opposition is simply going to anger Germany and France. To call Blair, who is trying to be conciliatory, "floppy" is not a diplomatic assessment of the situation.