Submarine crisis: how Macron wants to retaliate

Louis de Raguenel, edited by Antoine Terrel 2:00 p.m., September 21, 2021

TO ANALYSE

While the controversy has been swelling for several days, he has not yet spoken.

Since the start of the Australian submarine crisis, Emmanuel Macron has remained silent, leaving his sovereign ministers like Jean-Yves Le Drian to accuse the United States and Australia of having "struck a blow in the back of France "by canceling the contract to supply French submarines to Canberra.

While a Defense Council on the subject was held Tuesday morning at the Elysee Palace, the President of the Republic prefers for the moment to be active behind the scenes.

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Currently, Emmanuel Macron is active so that as many European countries as possible support France.

Not so simple, especially for the countries of Eastern Europe, which are very attached to American protection against the Russians. 

Macron wants a European response

Several avenues are therefore on the table, but the challenge for Emmanuel Macron is to ensure that the response is European.

French diplomacy has been pushing in recent days for the President of the European Commission Ursula van der Leyen to speak, which the latter did on Monday evening with very strong remarks against the United States.

The leader thus deemed "unacceptable" the way France had been treated. 

Today, the Élysée is looking for symbolic answers, but Emmanuel Macron is mainly looking for an effective response. This could mean, for example, the renegotiation or suspension of the trade agreement with Australia. A measure that could also have a political impact for breeders in France, since it imports a lot of Australian meat. Finally, another subject on the table at the Élysée: what amount of compensation can be demanded from Australia?