The French government on Tuesday won a parliamentary vote on its plan to return to NATO's military command after a fierce debate amid concerns over potentially undermined independence.
However, some experts say the plan, proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, was based on strategic considerations, especially on the once bruised transatlantic relations and the stalled plan of European common defense.
France was a founding member of NATO in 1949 during the Cold War era. Then President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the command in 1966 to assert the country's sovereignty and seek a less US-oriented policy.
Although France has remained a political member of the alliance, the country has always pictured itself as a diplomatic "maverick" independent of US clout.
Nearly four decades later, the transatlantic relations were further strained as France, under former President Jacques Chirac, joined hands with Germany to oppose the US-led war in Iraq.
Sarkozy has aimed to improve transatlantic ties since he took office, and expressed the country's intention of rejoining NATO's military command on several occasions. On March 11, he confirmed that intention during a speech in Paris.
Apparently France is seeking closer cooperation with the United States under new President Barack Obama and seems eager to bury any severe rift that he inherited from his predecessors, analysts say.
However, the government's plan to rejoin NATO military command, which won a vote of confidence on Tuesday in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, faced huge opposition, even from Sarkozy's conservative camp.
Former Prime Ministers Alain Juppe and Dominique de Villepin have criticized Sarkozy for giving up France's independence in defense policy without a reason. De Villepin has described the decision as a serious "diplomatic mistake“.
Sarkozy argued that France, the fourth largest contributor to NATO in terms of troops and money, should rejoin the decision-making process to meet the country's strategic interests.