PARIS: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday evening that France is immediately recalling its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia in a backlash over a submarine deal.
Le Drian said in a statement that the decision, on request from President Emmanuel Macron, is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements made by Australia and the United States.
He said the cancellation by Australia of a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with U.S. technology is unacceptable behavior.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.
PARIS: A top French diplomat spoke Friday of a crisis in relations with the U.S. after Paris learned, just before the public announcement, that Australia was scrapping a big purchase of French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear subs built with U.S. technology.
The diplomat, who spoke anonymously in line with customary government practice, said that for Paris this is a strategic question concerning the very nature of the relationship between Europe and the United States about the Indo-Pacific strategy.
He would not speculate on the effects the situation would have on France’s relationship with the U.S. Theres a crisis, he stressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron has not commented on the issue since President Joe Bidens announcement of a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain, leading France to lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel-electric submarines.
France has pushed for several years for a European strategy for boosting economic, political and defense ties in the region stretching from India and China to Japan and New Zealand. The EU unveiled this week its plan for the Indo-Pacific.
The French diplomat said Friday that Macron received a letter from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday morning announcing the decision to cancel the submarine deal.
French officials then decided to reach out to the U.S. administration “to ask what was going on,” he said. He added that discussions with Washington took place just two to three hours before Biden’s public announcement.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday expressed total incomprehension at the move and criticized both Australia and the U.S.
It was really a stab in the back. We built a relationship of trust with Australia, and this trust was betrayed, he said. This is not done between allies.
He also compared Biden’s move to those of his predecessor, Donald Trump, under Trumps America First doctrine.
Paris had raised the issue of the Indo-Pacific strategy during the June 25 visit to Paris of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing the importance of its submarine program with Australia, the diplomat said.
We said that is was for us a very important and critical component in our Indo-Pacific strategy, he said. Blinken met with Macron during the visit.
The French diplomat said Australia never mentioned to France before its will to shift to nuclear-powered submarines, including during a meeting between Macron and Morrison in Paris on June 15.
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