FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY

Аннотация

This article covers the last decade ofthe 20th century and highlights theforeign policy activities of several French presidents. For example, it examines the foreign policies of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, as well as their international engagements. Additionally, it discusses France’s roleinthepolitical and economic development oftheEuropean Union. Keywords: Francois Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, European Union, Saint-Malo Declaration, AtlanticAlliance, NATO, Maastricht Treaty, European Security and Defense Policy. The last decade of the 20th century was a period of profound changes in French foreign policy. The new geopolitical situation that emerged with the end of the Cold War brought a number of strategic challenges for France. In a bipolar world, Paris, which took a "third way" and asserted itself as an independent major power, was now forced to redefine its position in a unipolar system. As is known, France benefited to some extent from the confrontation between the US and the USSR by maintaining a balance between the two poles and conducting an independent foreign policy. In particular, since the era of Charles de Gaulle, Paris pursued military independence, withdrew from NATO’s integrated command structure (in 1966), and established an independent defense capability by acquiring nuclear power status. These measures allowed France to partially restore its geopolitical status lost after World War II, as it sought to position itself among the major powers. However, the historical changes of 1989-1991 - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the dissolution of the USSR - tested the principle of “French exception” (exceptionfrançaise). During François Mitterrand’s presidency (1981–1995), France actively participated in shaping the new European order. Although Paris initially approached the issue of German reunification cautiously, Mitterrand ultimately accepted Germany’s peaceful unification. However, he linked German unity directly to the deepening of European integration - meaning that German reunification should take place within the framework of the European Community (later the European Union), and with full adherence to democratic principles and the rules of the Helsinki Final Act. According to Mitterrand, only this way would a re-empowered Germany not pose a threat to stability in Europe. As a result, the Helmut Kohl government guaranteed to alleviate French concerns by committing the unified Germany to remain in NATO and to act within the framework of European cooperation. These events marked a new phase in France’s foreign policy regarding Germany and stimulated the strengthening of the Paris–Bonn (later Berlin) axis.[1.P-78.] Deepening European integration became a priority direction in French foreign policy at the end of the 20th century. With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the European Union was established, and within its framework, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was introduced. This initiative was mainly driven by France and Germany’s desire to develop https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi volume 4,issue5,2025 75 independent diplomatic and defense capabilities in Europe. François Mitterrand and his successor Jacques Chirac (1995–2007) promoted the idea of turning Europe into a “third center of power.” Especially during Chirac’s presidency, Paris began advocating for a multipolar world order — with France trying to transform the European Union into a strong pole as an alternative toU.S. hegemony ontheglobal stage. The 1998 Saint-Malo Declaration signed between France and the United Kingdom was an important step towards developing European security and defense policy (ESDP), resulting in jointinitiativesfor theEU’speacekeeping missions and military forces. At the same time, while maintaining cooperation with the U.S. within the “Atlantic Alliance,” France sought to reconsider NATO’s new role. Political circles led by Mitterrand believed that with the disappearance of the Soviet threat, NATO should be transformed or even dissolved. Mitterrand himself supported turning NATO into an “expanded Eastern cooperation organization” orreducing thealliance’s significance after thecollapse oftheUSSR. In the1990s, some members of the French political elite openly proposed the complete dissolution of NATO andthecreation ofan independent European defense system instead.[2.P-107.] However, such drastic scenarios did not materialize - on the contrary, NATO demonstrated its relevance in the new conditions during the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, in which France also participated. In 1995, President Chirac reviewed France’s relations with NATO and proposed returning to some of the alliance’s command structures. However, he insisted that French sovereignty and military independence should not be compromised. Due to some disagreements during negotiations with the U.S., full reintegration was not achieved in the 1990s. Nevertheless, Paris actively participated in NATO peacekeeping