France is reportedly hoping to take Britain's senior position in Nato amid claims the UK's role within the alliance could be at threat after Brexit, reports The Telegraph.
The UK has held the position of deputy supreme allied commander - the No 2 military post in the alliance - since 1951 but this may have to be transferred to a member of the EU under options being discussed, the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said.
The role is central to securing Nato manpower and equipment for certain EU missions organised under so-called "Berlin-plus" arrangements.
“There is already some discussion of the possibility that the assignment of the position . . . might have to be transferred to a Nato member that is a member of the EU,” Rusi deputy director-general Professor Malcolm Chalmers wrote in a briefing on the UK's post-Brexit foreign and security policy.
Among the countries seeking to exploit the potential reshuffle is France, The Times reported, claiming Paris sent an unofficial delegation to Washington last autumn to convince US officials that French armed forces were better placed than their British counterparts to be America’s special ally in Europe after Brexit.
The French team “were at pains to point out how useful the French military could be as an ally and their track record in getting things done in troublespots where the US was not as strong as it wished to be”, a source with knowledge of the September mission told the newspaper.