French leader Macron laments NATO’s ‘brain death’ due to US absence

French President Emmanuel Macron says a lack of US leadership is causing the “brain death” of NATO and that Europe must start acting as a strategic world power.

In an interview with The Economist magazine published today, Macron says “what we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump, left, listen to national anthems during a welcoming ceremony at Les Invalides in Paris, July 13, 2017. (Yves Herman, Pool via AP)

He says US President Donald Trump “doesn’t share our idea of the European project” and that the US shows signs of “turning its back on us,” notably by unexpectedly pulling its troops out of northern Syria.

Macron says European members of the 29-member alliance “should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States.”

Macron and Trump join their counterparts in London on December 3-4 for a NATO leaders’ meeting.

— AP

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