French Minister for European Affairs Clement Bon said that the crisis of canceling the submarine deal with Australia has become a European issue, not just France, while French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to work together in the Indo-Pacific region.

Bonn welcomed the European Union's support, stressing that this is a European issue and not only a French problem, and that the bloc must be more resolute in defending its interests.

Boone added that his country is assessing all options to respond to Australia's abandonment of a $40 billion submarine contract, and urged Britain to respect its post-Brexit obligations from the European Union.

Boone described relations with Australia now as "very difficult."

Australia said last week it would cancel an order for conventional submarines from France and build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with US and British technology under a new security partnership called AUKUS.

The cancellation of the deal angered France, which accused Australia and the United States of stabbing it in the back, and recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington.

For his part, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, stressed the union's solidarity with France.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also expressed solidarity with France, and Maas told reporters at the United Nations, "I understand the anger of our French friends, that the way the decision was taken was disturbing and disappointing, and not only for France."


"What we're seeing is making things more complicated, and I think it will remain that way for some time," he added.

European diplomatic sources said that the European Union ambassadors in Brussels decided to postpone the discussion of the arrangements for the Council on Trade Relations with the United States, scheduled to be held at the end of this month in Pennsylvania, in protest of the submarine agreement concluded by Washington with Australia at the expense of France.

US officials said that President Joe Biden is seeking to hold a phone call with Macron in the coming days to ease tensions, but that this has not happened yet.

On the other hand, the French presidency announced that Macron and Modi agreed - in a phone call - to "work together in the Indo-Pacific region that is open and inclusive."

The call comes at a delicate time amid French anger over the Australian withdrawal from the submarine contract.

Macron assured Modi of France's continued commitment to strengthening India's strategic independence, including its industrial and technological base, as part of a close relationship based on trust and mutual respect.

In recent days, the Indian media had speculated that Australia's cancellation of the submarine deal might lead to French-Indian talks on a submarine agreement, which might include technology transfer.

financial compensation

In another context, talks have begun between the French Naval Group and the Australian authorities about possible financial compensation, after Canberra broke off a huge deal to buy submarines, according to the French Defense Ministry.

The ministry told reporters in an audio conference on the "submarine crisis" that discussions are underway between the Naval Group's experts and the Australians about compensation.

The French Ministry of the Armed Forces again criticized what it described as a "betrayal" of Australia, stressing that "at no time did they discuss" with the French authorities the Australian decision to switch to nuclear-powered submarines, nor its talks with the United States.

The proof of this is that on 15 September, the Australian engineers and army approved the review of the French program in an official document called the Notice of End of Functional Review of the Programme, which means that Australia is satisfied and we can move forward.