BELGIUM : France Rejoins NATO Military Wing

France attended its first formal meeting of NATO defense ministers in 30 years to help try to build a greater role for Europeans in the alliance. French Defense Minister Charles Millon took up France’s vacant chair in Brussels, empty since Paris quit NATO’s military wing in 1966 in a dispute over U.S. domination. Defense Secretary William J. Perry and European allies welcomed France’s move. But they made clear that the officer who follows U.S. Army Gen. George A. Joulwan as commander will be an American. A U.S. general has served as commander of NATO forces in Europe since the alliance was formed in 1949.