French Head of State Emmanuel Macron will meet with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (September 22) on the open crisis between Paris and Washington over a submarine contract with Australia, the door said. - speech of the French government Gabriel Attal.
This telephone discussion, the schedule for which has not been communicated, will be "an exchange of clarification" at "the request of the President of the United States", to "clarify both the conditions under which this announcement was made and also clarify the conditions for an American re-engagement in a relationship of allies, "he said after the Council of Ministers.
Trust issue
Emmanuel Macron awaits "clarifications on the American choice to keep a European ally away from structuring exchanges on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific", explained the presidency.
"We expect our allies to recognize that the exchanges and consultations which should have been conducted were not and that this poses a question of confidence from which it is now up to us to draw all the consequences together," she said.
>> To read also: Decryption - In the affair of the submarines, France pays a policy "too soft" vis-a-vis China
The French Head of State also expects "the commitment on this basis of a solid process defined in time and of high level, which allows to create the conditions for a restoration of confidence in the acts and by the measures. concrete and not just by the words ".
"This concerns in particular: the strategic importance of the French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific; the full recognition by our American allies of the need to strengthen European sovereignty as well as the importance of the growing engagement of Europeans for their defense and security; the common commitment in the fight against terrorism, "detailed the Elysee.
Paris has "every right to be angry"
The interview between Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden must take place while Paris does not take off after the announcement, on September 15, of a new strategic alliance between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (Aukus), which torpedoed a mega-contract of French submarines in Canberra.
In an English-language interview with France 24, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said France had "every right to be angry" at the sudden loss of its multibillion-dollar submarine contract euros with Australia, after Canberra opted to buy US nuclear submarines instead.
He also called for a parliamentary inquiry into Prime Minister Scott Morrison's decision.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR