Yesterday a bolt from the blue. French President Emmanuel Macron used very harsh words about NATO: "is in a state of brain death". The criticisms leveled at NATO by French President Emmanuel Macron are "an unnecessary broadside". This is what Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, whom he met in Berlin yesterday, 7 November. In particular, as reported by the newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Merkel stated:"I think that such a trip is not necessary, even if we have to make compromises ". Macron, the German Chancellor continued, used “drastic words, that's not how I see cooperation in NATO”. According to Merkel, “the transatlantic partnership is essential for us”. In many areas, Merkel pointed out, "the Atlantic Alliance works well". Chancellor Merkel's position was shared by Stoltenberg, who said that "NATO is strong".

The German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, increased the dose and called the reunification of Germany "a gift from Europe", failing to mention both NATO and the US among the architects of the fall of the communist bloc. Many point the finger at the fact that in the Syria affair, both the United States and Turkey have not consulted NATO allies before intervening. On the other hand, Moscow was satisfied with Macron's criticism of the alliance. The problem, writes corsera, is not only military nor, as Trump would like us to believe, economic due to the scarce investment of European countries in defense. The problem is political. You cannot have a common defense if you don't have a common foreign policy. And the EU is very far from this goal. Neither, it must be said, France's positions on the matter help to get closer to the goal. With all its much talk of European defense, Macron so far it has never concretely questioned the possibility of sharing the French nuclear deterrent. Now that Britain is on its way out of the EU, France remains the only European member with nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. But Paris doesn't seem willing to share either. If anything, in recent times, it has been more inclined to agree on its actions with London than with Brussels. In foreign policy, the French act alone and Italy has experienced this in Libya, with the support of France to General Haflar when the EU, therefore also Italy supported Sarraj. Macron's criticism should make the European partners reflect in seeking the spirit of the founding fathers and truly believe in a community path that is concretized in facts and not only in auspices.