French National Assembly backs president 's plan to rejoin NATO . `` To cooperate is to lose your independence , '' French President Charles de Gaulle said at the time . President Nicolas Sarkozy 's plan is politically sensitive . France was a founding member of NATO but left in 1966 . The move would be seen as an attempt by the new government to regain its former status and bolster ties with Russia, which has been under Western sanctions since 2014 over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
French National Assembly backs president 's plan to rejoin NATO . President Nicolas Sarkozy 's plan is politically sensitive . France was a founding member of NATO but left in 1966 . The move would be seen as an attempt by the new government to regain its former status and bolster ties with Russia, which has been under Western sanctions since 2014 over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.