Alliance Set For Historic Realignment, Re-Entry Of France

The United States and its allies are preparing for a historic revamping of the 47-year-old NATO alliance. Europeans will have a larger role in military planning and the stage will be set for France to rejoin the military structure 30 years after dropping out.

The aim, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Thursday, is ‘to try to provide a vehicle to enable the European allies to work together on problems, while at the same time, maintaining the strength of NATO.” The steps will be taken at a NATO meeting Monday in Berlin. There will be no major move on expanding the alliance to take in former Soviet allies in central and eastern Europe, Christopher said. But, he said, “that process is going forward on a steady basis.”

Russian President Boris Yeltsin is opposed to extending NATO’s reach eastward, toward the Russian border. Christopher’s statement before a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind indicated NATO was not changing course to accommodate Yeltsin, who is in a tough fight for re-election next month against ardent nationalists and communists.

The revamping of NATO will give the Europeans a larger military role in the alliance, a senior Clinton administration official told reporters later. In fact, he said, “the principle of this is that the Europeans can undertake a European operation on their own.”