Nato: France back in command after 43 yrs

Prime Minister François Fillon has urged French lawmakers to support the government's decision to restore French membership of NATO's integrated military command, saying that France would be "faithful to the US but would not cede to it". French Prime Minister François Fillon will today address the French parliament in a bid to sway reluctant lawmakers to back President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to restore France's full membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Sarkozy last week announced his country's return to the Atlantic Alliance's military command structure, more than 40 years after former president and World War II hero Charles de Gaulle pulled out in the name of national independence. Sarkozy claimed that “France will be stronger, (and) more influential,” after joining NATO, adding that “the absent party doesn't have a voice." However, France's reintegration will meet stiff opposition in the country's parliament, where lawmakers are set to vote at 8pm today (GMT +1). The left-wing opposition has announced it will vote against the move. It accuses Sarkozy of selling off France’s independence: “This is a very bad decision. To the rest of the world, NATO is the instrument of the United States and the West,” said opposition lawmaker Jean-Louis Bianco. If all goes well for the government, France is expected to officially join NATO's military command at the Strasburg summit on April 3, 2009.