Macron: Check priorities! 'Terrorism' is the new enemy of NATO; Russia downgrades to a mere 'threat'

RT
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 22:16 UTC

© EPA-EFE/Philippe Wojazer

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on NATO to set its priorities straight, arguing that international terrorism is the main enemy of the alliance, while Russia is somehow both a 'threat' and a 'partner.'

"Who is the enemy of NATO? Russia is no longer an enemy. It remains a threat but is also a partner in certain areas. Our enemy today: international terrorism, especially Islamist terrorism," the French president tweeted after the NATO 70th anniversary summit, which concluded in London on Wednesday.

The message summed up the vision of NATO's strategic goals that Macron had shared at a press conference after the summit. In his speech, the French leader managed to combine the persistent NATO's desire to paint Russia as an eternal "threat" and "menace" for the alliance with his own repeated calls for a "constructive" dialogue with Moscow.

"Russia is also geographically a neighbor and it is a reality once again, and it is also a partner. It is a power with which we work on certain subjects, on which we advance," he said.

Macron has also defended his earlier remark on the "brain death" of the alliance, stating that it sparked a debate that was a very good thing, needed to reinvigorate the block. His statements ahead of the anniversary get-together of the alliance leaders have indeed spiced up the event, and the gathered politicians have repeatedly engaged into spats over it with one another, trying hard to prove NATO was actually alive and healthy enough.

Comment: RT, 4/12/2019: Stoltenberg: Dialogue with Russia OK, Russian reporter - nyet

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed in a press conference that the Western military bloc is "in favor of dialogue" with Russia — yet, this apparent openness still didn't extend to taking any questions from Russian reporters.

During the Wednesday press gathering, an AFP reporter asked Stoltenberg how he felt about French President Emmanuel Macron's call for cooperation with Russia. Stoltenberg said he agreed with the statement from Paris and that the NATO bloc as a whole was in favor of keeping the lines of communication with Moscow open.

Stoltenberg added that dialogue was necessary because Russia is NATO's "closest" and "biggest" neighbor and it's important to "strive for a better relationship." He then went on to take questions from journalists representing Sky News, the BBC, the Washington Post and North Macedonia's Telma TV, among others.

Yet, when the opportunity arose for the NATO secretary general to take a question from a Russian journalist, time was up — and the decision was final. What happened to those lines of communication?

Having sat patiently through the press conference and not been called upon, one Russian reporter piped up as the event concluded to ask if Stoltenberg would permit "one question from Russia, please!"

Stoltenberg lingered at the podium for a couple of seconds, looking toward an aide who quickly jumped in to save him: "We said this was the last question, so I'm afraid time is pressing. Thank you," she said before swiftly ushering him off stage.