France in NATO command - a poisoned chalice?

By FRANCE 24

Top Story aired on September 09 -

His CV is flawless: a graduate of France's Air Force Academy in 1973, he earned his fighter pilot wings in 1976. He also had a year-long stint as an exchange cadet at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado. Much of his career has been spent overseas, including as a flight commander north of Munich, Germany and as a detachment commander in Greece in the 1980s.

In 2000, he was promoted to the post of assistant to the head military collaborator of the French president’s chief of staff, and then two years later became the head of the prime minister’s military cabinet.

These two jobs taught him the mysteries of politics, which would serve him in the future. “That’s the way it is in NATO, too,” says Sauron. “France sent one of its best,” he explains, “Abrial is not just a soldier; he understands world politics, and its constraints.”

Abrial’s career path - political and above all resolutely European - explains, among other reasons, why NATO chose him for this high-level job.

“Finally, the Americans have understood that if they want their allies to share in the tasks and the costs of NATO, they need to assign some important positions,” Sauron concludes.