French Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Australia tears up its submarine contract with France and shakes the confidence of the whole of Europe
On September 17, local time, Clemente Byrne, the secretary of state for European affairs at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Australia's tearing up of submarine contracts not only shook France, but also shook the confidence of the whole of Europe.
Byrne said in a live broadcast on French TV 24 on the 17th, “I don’t know how we can trust Australia now. This is not only a measure against France, this is undermining the trust of Europe, because now it (Europe) can no longer trust itself. Partners.” Byrne emphasized that after the incident, France could not trust Australia to participate in the ongoing EU trade agreement negotiations.
French TV 24 reported on the 18th that the French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Sebo, said after being recalled that Australia had committed a "huge" diplomatic mistake.
"I think this is a huge mistake, and the handling of the partnership is very, very bad-because this is not a contract, but a partnership that should be built on trust, mutual understanding and sincerity." Saibo told reporters. .
According to previous reports, on September 17, local time, French Foreign Minister Le Drian stated in a press release issued that evening that at the request of President Macron, France will immediately recall its two ambassadors to the United States and Australia. Negotiations on Australia’s unilateral tearing up of the 56 billion euro agreement with France for the construction of 12 submarines.
Le Drian said that the consequences of the joint announcement issued by Australia and the United States on the 15th of this month were extremely serious, and the French decision was reasonable.
The communiqué stated that this perfidy behavior is unacceptable and seriously damages relations between partner countries.