Senior members of France’s left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party have reopened discussions about the country’s role in NATO, sharply criticising the United States under President Donald Trump for what they describe as serious breaches of international law.
Clémence Guetté, Vice-President of the French National Assembly and an LFI lawmaker, announced her intention to introduce a draft resolution advocating a “gradual withdrawal” from NATO, starting with France’s departure from the alliance’s integrated military command.
Writing on X, Guetté accused the Trump administration of abducting a Venezuelan head of state, backing and militarily supporting what she labelled a “genocide in Palestine”, and issuing threats of armed annexation against Greenland. She also claimed the US had carried out bombing campaigns that blatantly disregard international legal norms.
She argued that these actions make France’s continued membership in NATO — which she described as a military bloc dominated by and serving US interests — increasingly questionable.
Guetté’s stance was reinforced by Gabriel Amard, an LFI deputy from the Rhône region, who said France should first exit NATO’s integrated command structure before ultimately leaving the alliance altogether. Amard urged the adoption of a non-aligned foreign policy, insisting that France’s nuclear deterrence and diplomatic efforts should prioritise national sovereignty rather than the objectives of major global powers.
The renewed debate has also revived historical precedents. France was among the founding signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. However, in 1966, President Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from NATO’s unified military command while maintaining political membership. This move led to NATO relocating its headquarters from Paris to Brussels and the closure of US military installations on French soil. France rejoined NATO’s military command in 2009 under President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Although Guetté’s proposal is unlikely to trigger an immediate shift in government policy, it carries notable political significance due to her senior role. As a Vice-President of the National Assembly and a key figure shaping LFI’s strategic direction, she is widely viewed as an influential policymaker rather than a symbolic spokesperson. Her intervention appears to be a deliberate effort to return the NATO question to the heart of France’s legislative and strategic debate, framing it as a long-term discussion about sovereignty, alignment, and strategic independence rather than a fleeting political reaction.
NATO’s history also offers another example of partial disengagement. Following the 1974 Cyprus crisis, Greece withdrew from NATO’s integrated military command and suspended its involvement in key planning structures, arguing that the alliance had failed to support it during the conflict. Greece later rejoined NATO’s military framework in 1980, with the consent of Türkiye.
