SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
France recalls ambassadors from US, Australia over submarines row
Paris, Sept 17 (AFP) Sep 17, 2021
France has recalled its ambassadors to the UN and Australia for consultation, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced Friday, after Canberra ditched a deal to buy French submarines in favour of US vessels.

Le Drian said in a statement that the decision was made to immediately recall the two French ambassadors due to "the exceptional seriousness of the announcements made on September 15 by Australia and the United States".

US President Joe Biden announced the new Australia-US-Britain defence alliance on Wednesday, extending US nuclear submarine technology to Australia as well as cyber defence, applied artificial intelligence and undersea capabilities.

The move infuriated France, which lost a contract to supply conventional submarines to Australia that was worth Aus$50 billion (31 billion euros, $36.5 billion) when signed in 2016.

The French ambassador recalls from the United States and Australia, key allies of France, are unprecedented.

France on Thursday accused Australia of back-stabbing and Washington of Donald Trump-era behaviour over the submarines deal.

"It's really a stab in the back," Le Drian said Thursday. "We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed".

France has also called off a gala at its ambassador's house in Washington scheduled for Friday.

The event was supposed to celebrate the anniversary of a decisive naval battle in the American Revolution, in which France played a key role.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Why is there no life on Mars? Rover finds a clue
Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System
Michelin-star chef prepares ISS meals for French astronaut

24/7 Energy News Coverage
UK lab promises air-con revolution without polluting gases
BRICS nations to denounce Trump tariffs
EU unveils long-delayed 2040 climate target -- with wiggle room

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
China says no ambition to build South Pacific military base
US, Japan, India, Australia pledge mineral cooperation on China jitters
US busts network that helped North Koreans obtain remote IT work

24/7 News Coverage
Deep-sea mining negotiators to meet under Trump shadow
'Happy suffering': the Brazilian gold rush that spawned iconic pictures
Wildfires spread across Europe



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.