French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of lying in a multibillion-euro submarine contract that collapsed six weeks ago with the new security alliance between Canberra, Washington and London.
Asked by Australian journalists over the G20 summit whether he thought Morrison had lied to him about Canberra’s intentions regarding the submarine agreement, Macron replied, “I don’t think so. I know.”
“I believe there may be disagreements, I respect sovereign choices, but allies and partners must be respected, and it was not that this agreement would have been right,” Macrons said.
The Australian prime minister denied having lied to the French president, explaining that abandoning the agreement “was in Australia’s national interest”.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden met with Macron and acknowledged shortcomings in the new security agreement.
“What we did was awkward,” Biden said.
According to the President of the United States, he had the impression that Paris had been informed long before the Pact was announced.
Macro seems to want to leave the dispute with the United States in the past now.
In 2016, Australia selected the French company “Naval Group”, from which it intended to order new submarines. Until relatively recently, Australian defense and foreign ministers confirmed to their French counterparts that the idea was still valid.
The conclusion of this agreement had been delayed for several years. Negotiations have slowed down various problems, including Australia’s requirement that most production take place locally and also most components are manufactured in Australia.
On 15 September, Biden, Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the formation of a new Strategic Defense Alliance to provide Australia with US nuclear submarine construction technology, as well as cyber defense, artificial intelligence and submarine technology.
As a result, the planned € 56 billion agreement with France broke down.
On September 17, France recalled consultations with its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in the wake of a dispute over Australia’s renunciation of a submarine purchase agreement with France in favor of nuclear water, which Australia will obtain with US assistance.
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