France Will Take Full NATO Membership Again, With Greater Military Role

PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that France intended to become a full member of NATO, 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the alliance’s military command and threw NATO, and American forces, out of the country.

“Because it is in her interest and because it is her choice, France will take her full place, that of an ally both free and in solidarity, independent but engaged, a country that assumes all its responsibilities, everywhere and speaking to everyone, at the service of our values and of peace,” Mr. Sarkozy said.

France is already a major contributor of money and troops to the alliance, but now it will reintegrate into NATO’s military command structure.

Several hundred French officers will take up NATO jobs, and France is expected to get two important commands: the Allied Command Transformation project in Virginia, examining a more modern alliance, and the regional command headquarters in Lisbon, which is in charge of NATO’s rapid response force.

The issue has been politically delicate, with some in Mr. Sarkozy’s own center-right party, as well as on the left, criticizing the move as limiting France’s freedom of action in a world dominated by the United States. Some say they believe that the decision will hurt the chances for Europe to develop its own military capacity.

Martine Aubry, the Socialist Party leader, said Wednesday that “nothing today justifies returning to NATO’s military command,” adding, “There’s no hurry, no fundamental need, except this Atlanticism that’s becoming an ideology.”

“Atlanticism” is a code word for pro-Americanism.

In 1966, though, the precursor to the Socialist Party moved a censure motion in Parliament after de Gaulle pulled out of the NATO military command that year.

Mr. Sarkozy will write to other NATO members next week, after a parliamentary debate next Tuesday on the decision. Mr. Sarkozy, as president, can decide on his own, but his government will face a no-confidence vote, which it is expected to survive.

Speaking in Paris, Mr. Sarkozy repeated his arguments for reintegration, saying that the world had changed, threats had changed and NATO had changed.

“European defense will be stronger” when France rejoins the NATO military command, Mr. Sarkozy said. “The Americans understand perfectly well that having weak allies serves nothing.”

NATO “is the only international organization where France doesn’t seek to be present and influential,” he said. “The moment has come to put an end to this situation, since it is in the interest of France and of Europe.”