FRANCE'S left wing government said yesterday that the time was not ripe for Paris to return to the military wing of NATO but left the next move to the Gaullist President, Mr Jacques Chirac.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Jacques Rummelhardt, said it was up to Mr Chirac to decide whether to pursue the initiative because it was President Chirac who had proposed France's return to the military wing. France pulled out in 1966 under Gen Charles de Gaulle, accusing the alliance of being dominated by Washington.
Without prejudging the president's assessment, conditions set to pursue the process do not seem to be fulfilled," Mr Rummelhardt told a news briefing in advance of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Madrid next month.
The statement appeared to be a reminder to Mr Chirac, who will represent France at the summit, of the position of the Socialist Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin. A spokesman for the Elysee presidential palace said there would be no immediate comment on President Chirac's intentions.