PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) – France’s army chief said on Tuesday that the United States had become an unpredictable ally that was impacting France’s interests and security.
“We were surprised by an American ally, who remains an ally, but who is becoming increasingly unpredictable and doesn’t even bother to inform us when they decide to launch military operations,” Fabien Mandon told a security and defence forum in Paris.
“It has an impact on our security and it has an impact on our interests.”
France and the United States are close NATO allies, but there has been a growing frustration in Paris over Washington’s decision to launch its war on Iran in the Middle East after U.S. President Donald Trump already angered European allies over his designs on Greenland.
Trump has also lambasted his allies for being unwilling to actively join operations to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint that carries about a fifth of global oil supplies and underpins Gulf economies.
“We intervened in Afghanistan at the request of the Americans, who invoked Article 5 of NATO, and they chose to withdraw without informing us,” Mandon said.
“They have now decided to intervene in the Middle East without informing us. However, the immediate concern of the French armed forces has been to find solutions for France to protect citizens who were in transit in the region.”
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
