rance expressed fury Thursday over Australia’s surprise decision to scrap an enormous submarines deal in favour of nuclear-powered subs from the US, slamming the move as a breach of trust.
“It’s really a stab within the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed,” secretary of state Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio. “I’m very angry today, and bitter… this is often not something allies do to every other,” he said.
“This unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision considerably recalls what Mr Trump would do,” Le Drian added, pertaining to the previous US president Donald Trump who exasperated Europe with unpredictable decision-making.
France’s Naval Group, partly owned by the state, had been chosen to create 12 conventionally powered submarines to Australia, supported France’s Barracuda nuclear-powered subs in development.v
France expressed fury Thursday over Australia’s surprise decision to scrap an enormous submarines deal in favour of nuclear-powered subs from the US, slamming the move as a breach of trust.
“It’s really a stab within the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed,” secretary of state Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio. “I’m very angry today, and bitter… this is often not something allies do to every other,” he said.
“This unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision considerably recalls what Mr Trump would do,” Le Drian added, pertaining to the previous US president Donald Trump who exasperated Europe with unpredictable decision-making.
France’s Naval Group, partly owned by the state, had been chosen to create 12 conventionally powered submarines to Australia, supported France’s Barracuda nuclear-powered subs in development.
But US President Joe Biden and therefore the prime ministers of Australia and Britain announced Wednesday a replacement defence pact that might see Canberra get a nautilus fleet, a privilege reserved for few American allies.
The move underscores increasing concerns about China’s growing influence within the Indo-Pacific region, where France is additionally looking to guard its interests that include the overseas territories of latest Caledonia and French Polynesia .
Asked if Paris had been “duped” by Washington over what Le Drian once called a “contract of the century” for France’s naval yards, the minister replied: “Your analysis of things is more or less correct.”
He said France and its allies had been performing on a “coherent and structured Indo-Pacific policy” within the face of Beijing’s growing regional might.
“We had been discussing that with the us only recently , and here comes this break,” Le Drian said, calling it “a huge breach of trust”.
We’ll need clarifications. we’ve contracts — the Australians got to tell us how they shall get out of them,” he added.
‘CLEAR-EYED’
Defence Minister Florence Parly called Australia’s about-face “very bad news with regards to keeping one’s word”, while adding that France is “clear-eyed on how the us treats its allies”.
“In terms of geopolitics and diplomacy , it’s serious,” she told RFI radio on Thursday.
Parly and Le Drian had already denounced a “regrettable” move by Canberra during a statement overnight, saying it underscored the necessity to bolster “a European strategic autonomy”.
“There is not any other credible thanks to defend our interests and our values within the world, including within the Indo-Pacific,” they said.
President Emmanuel Macron — who is thanks to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel for already scheduled talks later Thursday — has repeatedly said that Europe must develop its own strategic and defence capabilities to be less reliant on the US.
Parly and Le Drian said that France retains its ambitions within the Indo-Pacific region because the “only European nation” with a presence there, thanks to its overseas territories with nearly two million French citizens and over 7,000 troops.
France may be a reliable partner and can still stick with its engagements, because it has always done,” they said.
