February 10, 2008	Sunday	Safar 02, 1429

MUNICH: French Defence Minister Herve Morin accused the United States of a “schizophrenic” approach to European security today and also criticised other European allies for an “infantile” dependence on American power.

Morin complained to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and other delegates at an international security conference that the US was constantly pushing European allies to take on a greater defence burden, but resisted French-led efforts to build a security role for the European Union.

“This is a type of schizophrenia,” Morin said. Washington has regarded previous French-led efforts to build up an EU military headquarters as a duplication of resources and threat to Nato unity.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is keen to improve trans-Atlantic relations and is considering a return of France’s armed forces to Nato integrated military command 40 years after Gen Charles de Gaulle pulled them out over concern about American domination of the alliance. But France is expected to link the return to American backing for a greater EU defence role.

“We need a strong Europe, we also need a strong (Nato) alliance,” Morin said.

The French minister also took a swipe at other European allies for cutting defence budgets and preferring to rely on American protection rather than building up European military muscle.

“Europe does not assume enough responsibility, it simply falls into dependence,” Morin complained. “European nations must do more to share the defence burden. ... They will only do this if they grow out of the infantile state in which they have been confined.”

He said Europe’s military weakness was a large part of Nato’s problem mustering sufficient forces for its mission in Afghanistan.

Morin was joined by ministers from other key European allies in calling for a major overhaul of Nato ahead of an allied summit in Bucharest, Romania, in April.

They said reforms had to deal with issues ranging from the difficulties of finding helicopters for the mission in Afghanistan to the membership bids of countries in the Balkans and eastern Europe, and new threats to computer networks and energy supplies.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung and Nato’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer both welcomed signs that France is considering a return to full membership of the military structure.

“I hope that France will get more involved in the alliance,” Jung told the meeting.

Morin did not go into detail about the French plans, but he said the eventual integration of French officers into the military command structure should be part of wider reforms that would cut costs and make the alliance more flexible.

Polish Defence Minister Radek Sikorski said the Bucharest summit should respond to requests by Ukraine and Georgia to open membership talks with Nato, a move other allies are wary of for fear of further alienating Russia.

—AP