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Australia said on Saturday that it regretted that France had recalled its ambassador because of the accidental cancellation of a submarine contract in support of an agreement with the United States.
France recalls its ambassadors to Australia and the U.S. On Friday, an agreement was reached between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom to provide Australia with a fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, which sparked unprecedented outrage.
The transaction canceled the A$90 billion (US$66 billion) contract signed in 2016 with the French majority-owned state-owned naval group to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s office said in a statement: “We regret to note that France has decided to recall its ambassador to Australia in order to negotiate after a decision is made on the attack-level project.”
The statement said: “Australia understands that France is deeply disappointed in our decision. Our decision was made based on our clear and communicated national security interests.” It added that Australia values its relationship with France and looks forward to future mutual exchanges. .
Payne and Secretary of Defense Peter Dutton are currently in the United States for their annual meeting with their American counterparts. This is their first meeting with the administration of President Joe Biden.
French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault said that Australia has never mentioned that the project may be cancelled.
Thebault told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview on Friday that he had discovered the American submarine deal: “Like everyone, thanks to the Australian media.”
“We have never been notified of any major changes,” Thebault said. “There are many opportunities and many channels. Such changes have never been mentioned.”
After the announcement of the U.S. agreement this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that he told French President Emmanuel Macron in June that “whether conventional submarine capabilities can meet Australia’s strategic security needs in the Indo-Pacific region? A very real problem.”
Morrison was on his way home from the British G7 summit in Paris, where he held talks with Biden, who is about to become alliance partners, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Thebault said he also participated in meetings with Macron and Morrison.
Thebault said that Morrison mentioned “the regional situation has changed” but did not say that Australia is considering turning to nuclear propulsion.
“The relationship between France and Australia is based on trust,” Thebault said.
“So fundamentally, everything is built on trust. Everything should be done with complete transparency between the two partners,” he added.
Thebault stated that the difficulties encountered by the project are normal in terms of its scale and massive technology transfer.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement On Friday, at Macron’s request, the two ambassadors were recalled. “The statements announced by Australia and the United States are exceptionally serious” is reasonable.
Le Drian said that Australia’s decision to cancel the purchase of submarines and switch to nuclear submarines built using American technology is “an unacceptable behavior between allies and partners.”
Veteran Opposition MP Mark Dreyfus called on the Australian government to repair relations with France.
“The impact this has on our relationship with France is worrying, especially as a country with important interests in our region,” Dreyfus said.
“The French were caught off guard by this decision, and Mr. Morrison should do more to protect this relationship. … The government needs to explain how this important relationship will be resolved,” he added.
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