Macron and Biden will meet in the coming days to address the diplomatic fallout from the US-Australia-UK security deal.
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France has accused Australia of concealing its plan to join the defense agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom and of breaching a deal for the acquisition of naval submarines.
The move was justified by Australia’s “national interest,” according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who also stated that the French government was informed that the contract for the renewal of the submarine fleet might be canceled.
Last week, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the formation of AUKUS, an Indo-Pacific security and technical cooperation pact aimed at limiting Chinese geopolitical ambitions in the region. The deal, which was unexpected by the rest of the world, including NATO’s military partners, permits for the sharing of nuclear submarine manufacturing technology between the US and Australia — just the second time Washington has consented to do so.
This potential put an end to a deal for the delivery of 12 submarines that had been negotiated in recent years between the Australian government and a French defense business. The transaction was worth 31 billion euros.
Paris was enraged by the advertisement, which he regarded as a “stab in the back.” The disagreement sparked a historic diplomatic crisis between post-Cold War partners. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, called his ambassadors to Australia and the United States for urgent meetings, something that had never happened before.
The Australian prime minister acknowledged France’s dismay, but denied that he had intended to take Paris off surprise, citing “deep and severe misgivings” about the deal with the French firm. “Ultimately, this was a decision about whether the submarines that were being built, at great cost to the Australian taxpayer, would be fit for the functions we’d need when operational, and our strategic assessment, based on the best possible defense advice and information, was that they wouldn’t,” Morrison said on Sunday.
The subject was brought up directly by the Australian Prime Minister “a few months ago” with French leaders, according to him.
The general consensus in France is that its partners’ actions were terrible. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, said there had been a “major breach of confidence” between France and Australia, as well as the United States.
French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault expressed regret for the incident as he left Australia. “I seen and learnt how essential it is for an Australian to commit to caring for someone. At the airport, Thebault told Guardian Australia, “What makes me unhappy is that I believed we were friends and got stabbed in the back.” Both are due in Paris this week, along with their American counterparts, to elaborate on what transpired.
Macron will meet with US Vice President Joe Biden “in the coming days,” according to the Elysee Palace. “We demand explanations,” said Gabriel Attal, a spokesperson for the French government.