“It is quite shocking to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs speak of lies and use terms which are not diplomatic terms at all”, said Sunday, September 19 on franceinfo Hélène Conway-Mouret, Socialist senator, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. France on Friday recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia, an unprecedented decision vis-à-vis two historic allies, after Australia’s decision to cancel the contract in favor of American nuclear-powered ships. “It is urgent to enter into a de-escalation”, she believes, otherwise “we are going to alienate our partners”. Helene Conway-Mouret “thinks that the Parliament will take up this matter” with perhaps a commission of inquiry, “we are going to demand accountability.”
franceinfo: what do you think of the French reaction and the firm words of Jean-Yves Le Drian vis-à-vis the Australians?
Hélène Conway-Mouret: for me it is quite shocking to hear the foreign minister speak of ‘lies’ and use terms that are not diplomatic at all. I understand that he reacts out of anger, but I think it is urgent today to enter into a de-escalation of diplomatic tensions. That we are disappointed, that’s for sure. I understand that we are also upset because the message is very blunt about the place and role that our allies are giving us on the international scene, which is not the one we would like to have. The recall of the ambassadors is highly symbolic and it certainly had to be done. But I believe that today, it is really very, very important to enter another phase, there will be a legal phase of compensation. After showing our dismay, our disagreement, I think we have to move on and I am appalled to see that we have the Secretary of State for European Affairs in reprisal at European level. We are going to alienate our partners. I think we have to be very careful.
But how to get over something else after such a snub?
The Australians were our client, a client who was not happy with the way things were going. There is a little piece of music which, for months, made it clear that Australians were not happy about the delays, were not happy about the extra costs.
“I think it would still have been wise for the government to send teams there to try to calm things down, to try to rectify what was wrong, rather than let things rot. “
Hélène Conway-Mouret, Socialist senator
to franceinfo
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We are in an economic war at all levels. We have partners and allies, but it does not work in the economic field. We see that the Americans recently sold F-35s to Switzerland and Belgium which were partners with whom we were sure we had made a deal to sell our Rafales, and it didn’t work. I think we are showing great naivety. Me, I was surprised that the government claims to learn from the press and the media and at the same time as us, that the contract was terminated, while the Australians did not do this on a whim.
Does that mean that for months the government saw nothing or wanted to see nothing?
I don’t think he wanted to see anything. And if he hasn’t seen anything, then I think we have questions to ask our diplomatic services and all those who must ensure constant monitoring at the political level, at the economic level and above all to defend the interests of our country, where they are stationed. This also raises other questions.
In this case, does the search for the truth have to go through a commission of inquiry?
I think Parliament will take up this matter, as we did in the Senate recently on Barkhane. I think we are going to be held to account. We normally have departments that are supposed to provide feedback. Either the government is not telling the truth and it has known for a long time and has not acted so it is its fault. Or, others are at fault because they did not come up with information that was necessary for the government to act. It was necessary to prevent the decision and not react suddenly when it is made. Today there is not much we can do. The retaliation with which we threaten Australia will be minimal, I think. I believe that after this strong blow of tension, now we will have to regain control of a speech that is a little more civilized but very firm on the subject of the compensation from which we must benefit in this affair.
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