French general: Ankara NATO summit must mark ‘new impetus’

The upcoming NATO summit in Türkiye’s capital this July must deliver a “new strategic impetus” for both European allies and the alliance as a whole, a senior French military official said Tuesday. Speaking at the 10th Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum in Bucharest, Eric Peltier, deputy head of the French Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, offered three key observations on transatlantic ties under pressure from the Iran war.

US shifting focus away from Europe

Peltier argued that the Iran conflict is both a “symptom and accelerator” of changes in the global security environment. He warned that the US “no longer considers Europe as a strategic priority,” a trend already visible during the Obama administration. Europeans must “urgently” adapt their security and military policies, he said, cautioning against the “bilateralization” of European-US relations, which would lead to “fragmented action and weakened European cohesion.” He warned against “burden-sharing turning into burden-dropping.”

Unity and collective defence

Retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe, acknowledged “enormous” pressure on transatlantic relations, saying: “I’ve never seen it this bad.” Tacan Ildem, a former Turkish permanent representative to NATO, stressed that the summit’s most important outcome must be “a message of unity and cohesion and solidarity among allies,” with commitment to Article 5 at its core. Glen Howard of the Saratoga Foundation described the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as a “tremendous mistake in American grand strategy.” The July 7-8 summit in Ankara will be NATO’s second in Türkiye, following the 2004 Istanbul summit. Anadolu is the global communications partner for the Bucharest forum.