Australia defends its handling of French submarine deal
Biden, Macron set to speak via phone later this week
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia defended its scrapping of a deal for French submarines on Sunday, saying the government had raised concerns to Paris for months, as a new deal with the US and the UK continued to fuel a multinational diplomatic crisis.
“I don’t regret the decision to put Australia’s national interest first,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Australia ditched the 2016 deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines, announcing on Thursday a plan to build at least eight nuclear-powered ones with US and British technology in a trilateral security partnership.
The move infuriated France, a NATO ally of the US and Britain, prompting it to recall its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra. It also riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.
The US has sought to assuage the anger in France, a NATO ally, and the French government spokesman said on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron would have a call with US President Joe Biden “in the next few days.” Paris has recalled its envoys to Washington and Canberra for consultations.
“I don’t regret the decision to put Australia’s national interest first,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.
Morrison said he understood France’s disappointment over the cancellation of the order - valued at $40 billion in 2016 and reckoned to cost much more today - but reiterated that Australia must
always take decisions in its best interests.
“This is an issue that had been raised by me directly some months ago and we continued to talk those issues through, including by defense ministers and others,” he told a briefing.
Under its new trilateral security partnership, Australia will build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with US and British technology. The scrapped deal, struck with France’s Naval Group in 2016, was for a fleet of conventional submarines.
The new trilateral deal has cast into doubt the united front that Biden is seeking to forge against China’s growing power.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told BFM TV that Macron would seek “clarification” of the cancellation in his call with Biden. Discussions would then need to take place over contract clauses, notably compensation for the French side.
European Union leaders are certain to discuss the issue at talks in Slovenia on October
5, said an EU diplomat, saying it had raised questions over the transatlantic relationship and Europe’s own geopolitical ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I think the French... will milk it for all it’s worth,” the diplomat said, referring to Macron’s long-standing support for greater European strategic autonomy, though many EU states are reluctant to weaken security ties with the United States.
Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said Canberra was “upfront, open and honest” with France about its concerns. He declined to reveal costs of the new pact, saying only that “it’s not going to be a cheap project.”
Britain’s role in the trilateral partnership demonstrates its readiness to be “hard-headed” in defending its interests post-Brexit, newly appointed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in an article published on Sunday.
She said it also showed Britain’s commitment to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.