The Australian government deliberately deceived France in unilaterally canceling a contract for the construction of Attack class submarines.

This was stated by the French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thébaud.

“This deception was deliberate.

Since it was not just the supply of submarines at stake, but much more, as it was a general agreement on sovereignty and sealed by the transfer of top-secret data, what happened was a stab in the back, ”Tebo said, speaking to Australian media in Canberra.

According to the French diplomat, this is confirmed by the fact that on August 30, 2021 - two weeks before Australia announced that it was canceling the contract - Australian Foreign Minister Maris Payne signed a communiqué with her French counterpart, highlighting the importance of the construction agreement with France. submarines.

Signing of the communiqué

suggests that the Australian authorities deliberately kept the French side in the dark, already knowing that the Attack submarine deal was in question, Tebo said.

“Would you agree to sign such a joint communique if there is even the slightest doubt about such an important aspect as the official basis of our cooperation?

Perhaps on Mars.

But not on our planet, ”Tebo said.

"Very disturbing signal"

Jean-Pierre Thébault also criticized the publication by the Australian media of the correspondence between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Australian newspaper published a text message from the French leader, which allegedly proved that Paris was aware of the upcoming cancellation of the contract.

In it, Macron asked Morrison whether to expect "good or bad news" about submarines.

This message was allegedly sent 48 hours before Australia announced its withdrawal from the agreement.

The French diplomat criticized the publication and said that the appearance of Macron's message in the press also calls into question the status of relations between Paris and Canberra.

“Perhaps this just confirms the fact that we were never perceived as allies,” Tebo stressed.

He also noted that the incident should be a warning to other countries doing business with Australia.

“In addition, this is a very alarming signal to all heads of state: beware, there will be leaks in Australia, and what you tell your partners in confidence will eventually be used against you one day,” the diplomat said.

It is worth noting that an excerpt from the correspondence between Morrison and Macron was published in the media shortly after the French president accused the Australian prime minister of lying.

So, on October 31, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, one of the journalists asked Macron if he thought that Morrison lied to him.

To this the French leader said that he "does not think, but knows."

In turn, Morrison, after the publication of a message from the correspondence of Macron, said that he considers the issue to be settled.

“The accusations were made, and then they were denied.

Now we should move on, ”the Australian Prime Minister told reporters.

Unnecessary submarines

Recall that the crisis in relations between Paris and Canberra arose after the establishment on September 15 of a strategic defense partnership between Australia, Great Britain and the United States - AUKUS.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that his country is withdrawing from a contract with the French shipbuilding company Naval Group for the supply of 12 submarines worth $ 66 billion. This contract was supposed to be the most expensive in the history of the Australian Navy.

The French media called it “the contract of the century”.

Morrison explained that when Australia entered into a contract with the French in 2016, his country was unable to build and operate nuclear submarines.

However, with the change in the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the presence of nuclear submarines in Australia became a strategic necessity, and it was decided to abandon the acquisition of French non-nuclear submarines of the Attack class.

  • Australian Premier Scott Morrison

  • © REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein

The technology needed for Australia's construction of its own nuclear submarines will be transferred to it by the United States and Great Britain as part of a new partnership, Morrison said at the time.

The denunciation of the large-scale agreement caused an extremely negative reaction in Paris.

The French side recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia for consultations, and the Foreign Minister of the Fifth Republic Jean-Yves Le Drian said that his country would reconsider its relations with Washington and Canberra.

Attack class submarines were to replace the Collins class diesel-electric submarines in the Australian Navy.

According to the plans of the country's defense department, they were supposed to enter service in the early 2030s and remain in service until the 2050s.

The Attack class represents

a non-nuclear modification of the French submarine Suffren (also known as the Barracuda).

In addition to them, the Ministry of Defense considered German Type 216 submarines designed by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Japanese Soryu class submarines as promising options.

Despite the fact that the contract between Paris and Canberra was signed back in 2016, none of the submarines on it was ever laid down.

In March this year, the Australian Department of Defense and the Naval Group reached a new agreement, according to which the laying of the lead ship of the HMS Attack project was to take place in 2023.

The Australian media criticized the contract with the French Naval Group for excessive cost, and also drew attention to the fact that the submarines would become obsolete by the time they entered the country's Navy.

This position was again voiced by Scott Morrison, who said the day before that his government was forced to look for an alternative to the agreement with the Naval Group, since this contract had very serious problems associated with delays in its implementation and increased costs.

In turn, the French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thébault denied Morrison's accusations and said that in this way the Australian side is trying to justify its behavior.

"A blow to authority"

Statements by the French ambassador and new accusations against Australia indicate that Paris will not allow this situation to be "hush up", Sergei Sudakov, a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences, emphasized in a conversation with RT.

“France will not let the brakes on this issue.

Everyone understands perfectly well that this is not only about the loss of more than $ 60 billion, but about the loss of trust between Western countries.

This step crosses out everything that the US has done to advance NATO, to advance its interests in greater Europe.

They show that the national interests of the Anglosphere are more important than other allies, ”the expert commented on the situation.

Against this background, NATO is actually becoming a conditional organization, noted Sergei Sudakov.

  • Sydney harbor

  • © REUTERS / Daniel Munoz

“Today, if it is profitable for us, we are NATO members and we fulfill the fifth article on mutual protection, if tomorrow it is not profitable for us, we create our own alliances.

France understands that if this issue is not raised now and is not warmed up, then in the future it will affect the stability of the entire security system of the West, ”the political scientist emphasized.

According to Andrey Koshkin, a full member of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, the situation with Australia's unilateral refusal of Attack submarines has caused serious damage to the reputation of Paris.

“Today France understands that this is a serious blow to its authority in the European Union and NATO.

The statement of the French ambassador to Australia says that now in Paris they realize that they need to get out of this pit and indicate their position: France was set up, but she is still able to fulfill expensive contracts at a very high level, "the interlocutor told RT.

In addition, Australia's decision also hit the French economy, which needs large industrial contracts in a pandemic, added Andrey Koshkin.

This situation has once again shown that the United States and its allies in the Anglosphere do not take into account the interests of their regional partners if they in any way do not coincide with their own, the expert noted.

“Now the Europeans know how members of the Anglosphere behave for their own benefit, and see that no contracts are binding for them,” the political scientist concluded.