Ambassadors of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently visited the French strategic nuclear submarine base, a fact that was disclosed belatedly.
On the 20th (local time), NATO announced in a press release that on the 6th, ambassadors of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO's highest decision-making body, visited the ?le Longue military base in France and inspected the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.
NATO explained that this visit was intended to emphasize France's contribution of conventional and nuclear forces to the defense of member states' territories. Referring to the new strategic concept adopted at last year's Madrid summit in Spain, NATO stressed, "Member states agree that as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance."
The ?le Longue base visited by the NAC ambassadors is at the heart of France's nuclear deterrence, a nuclear-armed NATO member state.
NATO's delayed disclosure of this visit appears to be aimed at demonstrating the cohesion of the Western military-security alliance both domestically and internationally, amid assessments that the European Union's (EU) unity has weakened due to France's recent pro-China stance.
Recently, Europe has been experiencing discord over France's response to China's overtures and its stance against China. On the 9th, French President Emmanuel Macron, returning from a visit to China, expressed the view that Europe should maintain an independent position on the Taiwan issue, which sparked strong opposition from EU member states.
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