Australian submarines: Paris recalls its ambassadors in Washington and Canberra
The head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian (here September 10 in Germany) justified this decision by the seriousness of the announcements made by Washington and Canberra.
AP - Jens Schlueter
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
After the announcement of the strategic partnership between Washington, London and Canberra, leading to the cancellation by Australia of a contract to purchase submarines from France, Paris announced this Friday evening the recall of its ambassadors to United States and Australia for consultations.
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Historical.
For the first time, France is recalling its ambassadors in Washington and Canberra.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian justified this “
exceptional
”
decision
, made at the request of President Emmanuel Macron, “
by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on September 15 by Australia and the United States
”.
In question,
the announcement made Wednesday by Joe Biden
of a security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom. This partnership, which includes the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, at the same time caused the cancellation by Canberra of a gigantic contract signed with Paris in 2016 for the supply of twelve French sailors with conventional propulsion.
Since then,
the French authorities have not wavered
. Thursday, Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced a “
blow in the back
” of Australia and a “
brutal
”
decision
of American President Joe Biden who, according to Paris, did not bother to consult France before his announcement . On RFI, the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly criticized "
very bad news for the respect of the given word
" and a "
serious
"
decision
in terms of international policy.
Paris also canceled a gala evening scheduled for Friday evening to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, decisive in the United States War of Independence, concluded with a victory for the French fleet over the British fleet on the 5th September 1781.
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France
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Jean-Yves Le Drian