Ok, I thought that there was a special relationship involving France and NATO, as in, they weren't required to participate in joint NATO defence operations while they remained a key player in nuclear weapon defence for Europe as part of NATO.

It sounds like I am mixing something up here...

[–] tal 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

They left the joint military command for a while, but not NATO itself.

EDIT: They rejoined the joint command in 2009.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Basically the opposite way round:

Wikipedia - NATO - Special arrangements

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, France pursued a military strategy of independence from NATO under a policy dubbed "Gaullo-Mitterrandism". Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated the return of France to the integrated military command and the Defence Planning Committee in 2009, the latter being disbanded the following year. France remains the only NATO member outside the Nuclear Planning Group and, unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, will not commit its nuclear-armed submarines to the alliance.