France cancels defense summit with UK over
submarine row
It is ‘a postponement, not a cancellation,’ a UK
official said, but no new date has been set.
BY LIV
KLINGERT AND CRISTINA GALLARDO
September
20, 2021 10:18 am
France has
canceled a Franco-British defense ministers’ summit, which was due to take
place this week, after Australia ditched a submarine contract with Paris and
instead made a deal with Washington and London, AFP reported on Sunday evening.
Defense
Secretary Ben Wallace and his French counterpart Florence Parly had been due to
hold a bilateral meeting in London and address the two-day Franco-British
Council, alongside defense chiefs from both countries. Yet the gathering has
now been postponed until a later date.
A U.K.
official told POLITICO it was a “postponement, not a cancellation.” No new date
has been chosen yet.
“We have a
strong and close working defense partnership with the French as trusted allies
of the U.K.,” the official added. “They are an important ally.”
Paris is
furious after Australia scrapped a troubled contract for new diesel submarines
with a French contractor opting instead for a nuclear-powered alternative
following secret negotiations with Washington and London.
While
France was enraged with Australia and the U.S. and withdrew its ambassadors
from Washington and Canberra, its attitude towards the U.K. in the fallout has
been dismissive up until now. French officials downplayed the U.K.’s role in
the historic deal, amid a backdrop of strained relations between the two
countries. “Great Britain in this matter is a bit of a fifth wheel on the
carriage,” French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday
evening.
President
Joe Biden is set to talk to Emmanuel Macron this week to discuss the dispute, a
French government spokesperson announced on Sunday.
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