Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said on Monday in Brussels that Nato's future was not brought into question, despite French President Emmanuel Macron's statement that Nato has experienced "brain death."

“Nato protects trans-Atlantic security. Its role is undisputed and its future is beyond question,” Minister Grlic-Radman said in Brussels, where he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

“I believe in Nato's future and I believe that it is necessary to protect our values, peace and stability,” he added.

Several other EU ministers also defended Nato after Macron had told The Economist last week that Europe was facing the “brain death of the Alliance, and that Europe cannot rely on it any longer when it comes to the issue of security.

“I agree with the French president that we need to consider what more we can do for our security, but I want to do that together with Nato, and not against it,” Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, while Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said Macron's words were not useful.

Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, said that Macron was right to criticise the level of coordination within Nato. However, he added, that does not necessarily mean we have to bring into question Nato's military mechanism.