Posted on Oct 23, 2021 8:48 AM
The dialogue resumes slowly but surely. US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone on Friday, continuing efforts to iron out Franco-American differences following the Australian submarine crisis, with the White House confirming the vice’s next trip to Paris. -President Kamala Harris.
The two leaders “discussed the efforts needed to strengthen defense Europe while guaranteeing complementarity with NATO,” said a statement from the US executive, a subject that is particularly close to the hearts of the French. Emmanuel Macron has indeed made the construction of a real European defense, a project which is struggling to grow almost 30 years after its launch by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, a priority for the last six months of his mandate.
Other subjects raised by the two leaders include the situation in the Sahel and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the White House. The French authorities wish “a reinforcement of the American support for the counterterrorism operations led by the European States in the Sahel”, explained at the beginning of October a French diplomatic source to AFP, on the occasion of the visit of the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Paris.
In a tweet, the US president said he “enjoyed” the conversation with Emmanuel Macron and “rejoiced” to meet him in the Italian capital to “take stock of the many areas of cooperation” between the two countries.
Kamala Harris in Paris
Friday’s call precedes a meeting between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron which should take place at the G20 in Rome at the end of October and will be followed by the visit to Paris of US Vice President Kamala Harris, confirmed by the White House and the United States. Elysium.
The Vice-President of the United States will visit Paris on November 11 and 12, on the occasion of the Paris Peace Forum and the International Conference on Libya. It will be received by the French President. They “will discuss the importance of the transatlantic relationship for peace and security in the world and they will insist on the importance of our partnership for planetary challenges such as Covid-19 and the climate crisis,” the Maison said. White.
Warming up phase
The call between the two leaders and the visit of Kamala Harris are part of a warming phase between Paris and Washington after the crisis caused by the announcement in mid-September of a new alliance between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. This partnership, called AUKUS, aroused rare anger from France because it torpedoed a mega-contract for French submarines with the Australians.
A first phone call between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, a week later, had made it possible to initiate a relaxation. The tenant of the White House had then publicly made amends on the method. And the two heads of state had launched a “process of in-depth consultations” to restore a hard-tested confidence between Paris and Washington.
The Australian submarine crisis is the most serious diplomatic crisis between these two historic allies since the French “no” to the Iraq war in 2003. The affair has also opened up a debate in France, but also in other countries. other EU countries, on the need to accelerate towards greater European sovereignty in matters of defense in order to free itself from the American umbrella.
Source AFP
–
