Emmanuel macron has no right to serve as nato kingmaker

Telegraph View 18 June 2023 6:00am BST Only a few years ago, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was declaring Nato “brain dead”. More recently, he has focused on his pet project, the

European Political Community – and effectively broken with the US by making overtures of friendship toward China. Yet now that the role of Nato secretary general is up for grabs, Mr Macron

has apparently decided he has the right to serve as its kingmaker. He is seeking to quash the appointment of Ben Wallace, Britain’s Defence Secretary, to head the alliance. This intervention

not only smacks of petty vengeance over Brexit, but seems particularly ill-judged given Europe’s experience since Vladimir Putin launched his appalling war against Ukraine. As an

independent power, Britain has led from the front during the crisis, galvanising the West to stand firm against Russian aggression. Europe has all too often been left to play catch-up, while

Mr Macron’s resolve has been particularly weak. Nor is that a new state of affairs. The UK has long been the second largest contributor to Nato after the US. For all the cuts to our armed

forces, we are still the strongest military power in Europe by some measures. Apparently, Mr Macron is insisting on a candidate from the EU to replace Jens Stoltenberg at the helm of Nato.

If Mr Macron is determined to block Mr Wallace from getting the job on such baldly protectionist grounds, he should consider that not all Nato members may be so impressed with the available

options. With the alliance’s focus firmly on its eastern flank, can Paris’s favoured nominee really expect to be as respected in Poland or its neighbours as a British candidate?