Divisions open up over NATO's Asian outreach ahead of leaders' summit in Vilnius.
Macron insists that NATO's outpost in Japan would risk shifting the alliance's remit too far from its original focus | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
BY
STUART LAU AND
LAURA KAYALI
JULY 7, 2023 8:18 PM CET
3 MINUTES READ
PRESS PLAY TO LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE
Voiced by artificial intelligence.
PARIS — France is holding up a deal to expand NATO's reach into Asia, opening a split in the Western security alliance on the eve of a vital summit next week.
For months, NATO officials have been discussing plans to open a liaison office in Japan, which would represent the allies' first outpost in the region at a time of growing tension between the West and China.
Next week's annual leaders' summit in Lithuania —taking place against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine — was earmarked as a moment for making progress on the plan.
But French President Emmanuel Macron has put his foot down, insisting such geographical expansion would risk shifting the alliance's remit too far from its original North Atlantic focus.
The French official insisted that NATO is geographically confined to the North Atlantic. "NATO means North Atlantic Treaty Organization," the official said, adding that Articles 5 and 6, clauses at the heart of the alliance, are "geographic."
