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Home World "Stab In The Back": France Fumes As Australia Scraps Huge Submarine Deal Advertisement

"Stab In The Back": France Fumes As Australia

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Scraps Huge Submarine Deal

"It's really a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has
been betrayed," France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
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World Agence France-Presse Updated: September 16, 2021 2:29 pm IST

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French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull on a Collins-class submarine. (File) Advertisement

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10 Slides

Paris: France expressed fury Thursday over Australia's surprise decision to scrap
a huge submarines deal in favour of nuclear-powered subs from the US, slamming
Fitness
Melt That Belly Fat the move as a breach of trust.
11 Slides

"It's really a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with
Australia, this trust has been betrayed," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told
Entertainment France Info radio.
It's Always Sunny In
The Maldives
10 Slides "I'm very angry today, and bitter... this is not something allies do to each other," he
said.

"This unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision very much recalls what Mr
Trump would do," Le Drian added, referring to the previous US president Donald
Trump who exasperated Europe with unpredictable decision-making.

France's Naval Group, partly owned by the state, had been chosen to build 12
conventionally powered submarines to Australia, based on France's Barracuda
nuclear-powered subs in development.

The contract was worth around Aus$50 billion (31 billion euros, $36.5 billion) when
announced in 2016.

But US President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Australia and Britain
announced Wednesday a new defence pact that would see Canberra get a
nuclear-powered submarine fleet, a privilege reserved for few American allies.

The move underscores increasing concerns about China's growing influence in the
Indo-Pacific region, where France is also looking to protect its interests that
include the overseas territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

Asked if Paris had been "duped" by Washington over what Le Drian once called a
"contract of the century" for France's naval yards, the minister replied: "Your
analysis of the situation is more or less correct."

He said France and its allies had been working on a "coherent and structured Indo-
Pacific policy" in the face of Beijing's growing regional might.

"We had been discussing that with the United States just recently, and here comes
this break," Le Drian said, calling it "a huge breach of trust".

"We'll need clarifications. We have contracts -- the Australians need to tell us how
they intend to get out of them," he added.

'Clear-eyed'

Defence Minister Florence Parly called Australia's about-face "very bad news with
regards to keeping one's word", while adding that France is "clear-eyed as to how
the United States treats its allies".

"In terms of geopolitics and international relations, it's serious," she told RFI radio
on Thursday.

Parly and Le Drian had already denounced a "regrettable" move by Canberra in a

statement overnight, saying it underscored the need to bolster "a European
strategic autonomy".

"There is no other credible way to defend our interests and our values in the world,
including in the Indo-Pacific," they said.

President Emmanuel Macron -- who is due to meet German Chancellor Angela

Merkel for already scheduled talks later Thursday -- has repeatedly said that
Europe needs to develop its own strategic and defence capabilities to be less
reliant on the US.

Parly and Le Drian said that France retains its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region
as the "only European nation" with a presence there, due to its overseas territories
with nearly two million French citizens and over 7,000 troops.

Promoted

"France is a reliable partner and will continue to stick to its engagements, as it has
always done," they said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated 4
from a syndicated feed.) Comments

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