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Australia’s decision to cancel a multi-billion-dollar French submarine order in favor of American and British technology has triggered unprecedented diplomatic disputes between long-term Western allies.
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Recall its ambassador The United States and Australia cited “duplicity, contempt and lies” as an excuse.
In addition to tens of billions of euros in economic losses, France also expressed dissatisfaction with the way Australia and its partners handled the matter. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “Some people despise, so our relationship is not very good, not at all.”
The French government said on Sunday that President Emmanuel Macron will have a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden in the next few days.
Australia’s strategic adjustment
Australia announced on Wednesday that it will abandon a contract worth more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion) to purchase 12 French-made diesel-electric submarines.
Instead, it will serve at least eight US nuclear-powered submarines within a framework. New alliance – Known by its acronym AUKUS – Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom will share advanced technology with each other.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that the three countries have agreed to “establish a new and strengthened trilateral security partnership.”
This move has consolidated the strategic alliance between Australia and the United States and may change the balance of naval forces in the Pacific. As part of this plan, Australia may conduct routine patrols in the South China Sea.
Biden stated that the deal is “investing in our greatest source of strength, our alliance, and updating them to better respond to today’s and tomorrow’s threats.”
However, this partnership excludes France from the 2016 purchase agreement won by quotations from Germany and Japan. The United States and the United Kingdom did not participate in the bidding process.
‘Lies and deceptions’
Le Drian and the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Pally, expressed anger at Australia’s actions on Thursday, saying that “this decision violates the letter and spirit of the general cooperation between France and Australia”.
Le Drian said in a speech on French information radio on Thursday that the decision was “a knife behind the scenes.”
The French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Tabor, told Al Jazeera when he left the Canberra embassy that the cancellation of the deal was “a huge mistake.”
“This is not a contract, but a partnership,” he said of the deal. “Partnership should be based on trust.”
Le Drian on Saturday condemned the “duplicity, contempt and lies” surrounding the abrupt termination of the contract, which he believed was the result of a behind-the-scenes deal that betrayed France.
Australia’s Morrison said on Sunday that France should know that Australia is “deeply concerned” that the submarine fleet that France is building cannot meet Australia’s needs.
He said that he told Macron in June that “there is a very real question whether conventional submarine capabilities can solve Australia’s safety issues.”
Although he avoided mentioning China specifically, Morrison blamed this shift on the deteriorating strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The capabilities that attack-class submarines will provide are not what Australia needs to protect our sovereign interests,” he said.
Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton stated that Australia has always expressed its intention to purchase its first nuclear submarine in a “frank, open and honest” to France, which is expected to be delivered around 2040.
Le Drian denied that he had conducted prior consultations with France before the announcement on Wednesday, saying “this is not true.”
Dilapidated historical alliance?
The alliance between France and the United States dates back to 1778, two years after the United States declared independence.
As part of the Franco-American alliance, France provided much-needed military aid and loans to the United States during the revolutionary war against Britain.
France is the oldest ally of the United States and has never recalled its ambassador before.
Le Drian said: “For the first time in the history of US-French relations, we recalled our ambassador for consultations. This is a serious political act, which shows the severity of the current crisis between our two countries.” Five in a statement.
The French Foreign Minister stated that France will give priority to formulating an EU security strategy when it assumes the rotating EU presidency in early 2022.
A White House official said on Friday that the United States regrets France’s decision to recall its ambassador and will continue to work on resolving differences between the two countries in the coming days.
“President Biden requested to speak with the President of the Republic, and President Macron and President Biden will have a telephone discussion in the next few days,” French government spokesperson Gabriel Atal told the news channel BFM TV.
Attar said that France will seek “clarification” on the cancellation of submarine orders.
Australia said on Saturday that it values its relations with France and will continue to engage with Paris.
A spokesperson for the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: “Australia understands that France is deeply disappointed in our decision. Our decision is based on our clear and communicated national security interests.”
“Australia values its relationship with France…We look forward to engaging with France again on many common interests based on common values.”
An artist’s impression shows France’s future third-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine SNLE 3G [Handout/Naval Group via AFP]
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