Paris has recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra for consultations, citing “unacceptable behavior” of the US, UK and Australia in striking a nuclear submarine deal that scuttled a French shipbuilding contract.
“At the request of the President of the Republic [Emmanuel Macron], I decided to immediately recall to Paris for consultations our two ambassadors in the United States and in Australia,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday.
Le Drian said the decision was justified by the “exceptional gravity” of the September 15 announcement made by Australia and the US....
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US says France 'vital' after deal with Australia prompts uproar - AA
Contrats de sous-marins : la France dénonce un "coup dans le dos" de l'Australie • FRANCE 24
AUKUS partnership conceived as Australia's relationship with China deteriorated
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Abandoning the submarine project that Canberra and Paris had agreed-on in 2016 constitutes “unacceptable behavior between allies and partners, the consequences of which affect the very conception that we have of our alliances, our partnerships and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe,” said the French foreign minister.
ReplyDeleteUS President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson announced the ‘AUKUS’ initiative in a three-way virtual event on Wednesday afternoon. The centerpiece of this new alliance of “maritime democracies” is the 18-month project to provide Canberra with nuclear-powered but conventionally armed submarines. This would make Australia only the seventh country in the world to operate such vessels – and the only one without a nuclear arsenal of its own.