Discours de Florence Parly, ministre des Armées, devant le think-tank Atlantic Council à Washington, le 9 juillet

Vous trouverez ci-joint le discours de Florence Parly, ministre des Armées, devant le think-tank Atlantic Council à Washington, le 9 juillet.

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Thank you so much for your warm welcome.

I am delighted to be back in Washington D.C. I was looking forward to engaging with you on the transatlantic relationship. Since my last visit, almost a year and a half ago, the tide has turned and many inconveniences have gone with the wind. I have the feeling that we breathe much better than before in DC. And I think, it’s for the best.

I won’t be long as I really wish to discuss with you, but first, I would like to start with some obvious facts. Because this will come as no surprise to anyone: we very much welcome the Biden administration’s strong will to choose the path of discussion and cooperation. And I can tell you that in Europe, we all understand the meaning of “America is back!” It feels like getting back to work with old friends!

We are very pleased with the outcomes of the recent transatlantic sequence, which clearly demonstrated the will of this Administration to revitalize the United States’ alliances and partnerships. At both the NATO summit and the US-EU summit, we reaffirmed our values and demonstrated the necessity to deepen our cooperation to tackle the challenges we are facing, I think notably of climate change, cyber, outer space or the resurgence of strategic competition due to countries like Russia or China.

Of course, in four years, Europe has also changed a lot. We have become aware of the need to defend ourselves without depending on others. But we never turned our backs on the United States, that was never our intention. On the contrary, we have always sought to become better allies. Because we know that in a world of increasing strategic competition and hybrid conflicts, we can only defend ourselves effectively through multilateralism, cooperation and the global respect for international law.

Cooperation between the European Union and NATO is essential, both are complementary and as I have always said: a strong Europe means a stronger Atlantic Alliance.

And I think the message is starting to get through: For the first time, Washington has recognized the benefit of the European defense initiatives to the security of the transatlantic community. When President Biden states that the European Union “provides the backbone and the support for NATO”, it is most welcome as there is for sure much more to achieve to strengthen the European pillar of NATO and to boost NATO-EU cooperation.

Don’t get me wrong, there is no question that NATO remains at the heart of our collective Defense. Thus, President Biden’s reaffirmation of the United States’ ironclad commitment to Article 5 is crucial and highly appreciated. Nevertheless, Europeans should rather be active contributors than free riders as some may secretly hope. That would enhance both the EU and the US in our efforts to face common challenges.

To be fair, Europeans are already doing more. NATO European countries and Canada have raised their defense budget by 24% since 2014, in their effort towards the 2% GDP target. We also engage together on the field, I think of the Takuba Task-Force - gathering Special Forces from 9 European countries - in the Sahel, which is a remarkable and concrete example of Europeans taking their responsibilities by accompanying the Malian Armed Forces in combat. This task force has already achieved major successes against terrorism.

This is not only a European success story. This is a success story that we share with you, as the US support to our operations in the Sahel is crucial. This will still be the case as we are transforming the layout of our forces in the region in order to focus more on operational partnerships and cooperation with G5 Sahel nations.

For many years, France and the US have had an operational honeymoon. In the Middle East within the Global coalition to defeat ISIS - France is the second contributor –, in the Indo-Pacific where our forces train together or when it comes to uphold international law, as shown during joint and combined operation conducted by US, UK and France against the chemical facilities in Syria in 2018: our operational cooperation delivers concrete results. And it will continue to deliver.

You know what they say about the United States and France, that we are the “oldest allies”. In fact, we celebrated our historic bond on Wesdnesday by honoring the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown with a joint flight over the city by four Rafale and four F-22 Raptors. Well, I am convinced that this idea of the oldest ally is not only a kind word that is said automatically during these ceremonies. I believe it is a strong reality.

France is sometimes seen as the itching powder of the Alliance. A famous interview by President Macron in October 2019 triggered a tempest in a teapot. But the truth is that he was asking questions that many were keeping for themselves. And, at the end of the day, it helped to launch a reflection process that proved extremely useful to put back notions such as solidarity or responsibility at the heart of the Alliance. Coming back to France and  the US, we turned out to be your best allies in achieving your goals. Because we show up. We show up everywhere there is a need; against terrorism, in the Indo-Pacific where 1.6 millions of French people live, in the cyberspace and in outer space. We are the ones who push Europe to act more and we do our part.

Beyond our operational cooperation, we share a common analysis of the threats and strategic issues we face. Among which, of course, the rise of China. The nature of the power competition that is unfolding is a crucial issue for France.

China’s intent to exert a greater influence on the global stage has triggered some disruptive effects and changed the power distribution in a way that could be detrimental to our own interests. The extension of its ambitions beyond its regional periphery, its substantial investments in operational armed forces with an expeditionary capability, the construction of its naval base in Djibouti or the development of its ballistic arsenal and naval capacities changed the scope and the nature of the challenge. Moreover, while its public nuclear doctrine remains centred on “no first use”, the rapid development of China’s deterrent capabilities raises questions. One argument among many that call for the preservation of a strong and clear deterrence doctrine in Washington as well as in Paris.

So, my presence here in Washington offers me the perfect opportunity to reaffirm the crucial importance of our bilateral defense relationship. Its depth and scope are simply breath taking. I was delighted to engage with Secretary Austin at the Pentagon. It was a dense meeting, which enabled us to exchange our views on a broad range of issues. I was delighted to visit US CYBERCOM this morning. Cyber is a key field in which we are enhancing our relationship. Space is also a domain where we want to cooperate more. By the way, we had a very fruitful meeting with General Dickinson from US SPACECOM in Paris a couple of days ago.

Finally, I would like to stress our excellent cooperation in the field of special operations. Indeed, I am delighted to announce that this morning, Secretary Austin and I signed a roadmap to strengthen even more the relationship between our two special forces.

America is back. Now let’s get to work, and we will deliver. Our bound is unbreakable, as President Roosevelt framed it in his 1942 message to the French people: “No two Nations exist which are more united by historic and mutually friendly ties than the people of France and the United States.”

Thank you.