The new Australian Prime Minister on a charm offensive in France

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (illustration image).

AFP - CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Will Australia and France succeed in turning the page on the case of the submarine contract suddenly canceled by Canberra last autumn?

In any case, the opportunity is definitely there: after the NATO summit on June 29 and 30 in Madrid, the new Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Even if it is very unlikely that Australia will decide to reconsider its decision to buy American nuclear-powered ships instead, the time is now for appeasement after a veritable diplomatic storm. 

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"

 Brutality

 ", " 

cynicism

 ", "

 notorious incompetence

 ", the day of his departure from the Quai d'Orsay, Jean-Yves Le Drian had one last time settled his accounts with the former Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, going as far as to salute the latter's defeat in the legislative elections. 

Turn the page

Change of government, change of tone: with the new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, the time has come to turn the page on the diplomatic crisis, in which France and Australia were mired following the cancellation by Canberra of a mega contract of 56 billion euros for the purchase of twelve submarines from the French company Naval Group.  

“ 

Starting from scratch 

”

“ 

We have to start from scratch and we have already had constructive conversations

 ,” said the new head of the Australian government in an interview with the American television channel ABC, a few days before his arrival in Paris.

And to make eyes at Emmanuel Macron: " 

France

, declared Albanese, 

is obviously one of the central powers in Europe, but it is also a central power in the Pacific

 ". 

Canberra has already started to heal the wounds: hardly invested, the Albanese government concluded a compensation agreement, up to 555 million euros, with Naval Group.

►Also read: Submarine crisis: the leak of an SMS from Macron in the press rekindles tensions

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  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Anthony Albanian

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