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PARIS (Reuters): France plunged into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with the United States and Australia on Friday after it recalled its ambassadors from both countries over a trilateral security deal which sank a $40 billion French-designed submarine contract.
Foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement that the rare decision taken by President Emmanuel Macron was made due to the seriousness of the matter.
On Thursday, Australia said it would scrap the $40 billion deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and would instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership. France called it a stab in the back.
A White House official said the United States regretted the French decision and that Washington had been in close touch with France over it. The official said the United States would be engaged in the coming days to resolve differences with France. Australia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A diplomatic source in France said it was the first time Paris had recalled its own ambassadors in this way. The foreign ministry statement made no mention of Britain, but the diplomatic source said France considered Britain had joined the deal in an opportunistic manner.
“We don’t need to hold consultations with our (British) ambassador to know what to make of it or to draw any conclusions,” the source added. Le Drian said the deal was unacceptable.
“The abandonment of the submarine project … and the announcement of a new partnership with the United States aiming at launching new studies for future possible nuclear propulsion cooperation is unacceptable behaviour between allies,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“The consequences touch the very concept that we have of alliances, our partnerships and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tried on Thursday to calm the French outcry, calling France a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific.
Earlier on Friday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected French criticism that it had not been warned about the new deal, saying he had raised the possibility in talks with the French president that Australia might scrap the 2016 submarine deal with a French company.
