Logo

‘A stab in the back’: France feels betrayed by Australia after it abandoned sub deal

France is disappointed by the abrupt abandonment of the $40bn submarine deal by Australia in order to share nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact.

“The American choice to exclude a European ally and partner such as France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, whether in terms of our values or in terms of respect for multilateralism based on the rule of law, shows a lack of coherence that France can only note and regret,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Defence Minister Florence Parly expressed in a joint statement.

“It was a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia. This trust has been betrayed,” said FM Jean-Yves Le Drian, while talking to radio network FranceInfo on Thursday.

Australia, in 2016, had signed a contract with the French Naval Group to build a new fleet of submarines spanning a budget of $40bn.

The agreement is now ditched by Australia as it joined AUKUS – An enhanced trilateral security partnership, with the United Kingdom and the United States, which included the provision and development of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.

“We intend to build these submarines in Adelaide in close cooperation with the UK and the US. But let me be clear, Australia is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons,” stated Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on twitter.

He also felt “great” to join “good friends” President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce this new partnership [AUKUS].

Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), said that the submarine decision was in response to China’s takeover of the South China Sea and constant bullying of Australia.

Chinese coercion doesn’t work on Australia

“We should call the first submarine in this new category the ‘Xi Jinping,’ because no person is more responsible for Australia going down this track than the current leader of the Chinese Communist Party,” told Jennings.