Aukus: France’s ambassador recall is ‘tip of the
iceberg’, say analysts
Aukus pact announcement ‘puts a big rift in Nato
alliance’ for France, says former UK ambassador
We found out from the press, says French ambassador on
scrapped submarine contract
Kim
Willsher
Sat 18 Sep
2021 12.22 BST
France’s
historic decision to recall its ambassadors to the US and Australia is far more
than a diplomatic spat, analysts have warned.
The move,
in protest at Canberra’s surprise decision to cancel an order for French-built
submarines and its security pact with Washington and London, will affect France
and Europe’s role in Nato and already strained relations with the UK.
French
officials have accused Australia, the US and the UK of behaving in an
underhand, duplicitous manner that has betrayed and humiliated France.
“This is
far more than just a diplomatic spat, the withdrawal of ambassadors is the tip
of the iceberg,” Peter Ricketts, a former permanent undersecretary at the
Foreign Office and former UK ambassador to France, told BBC Radio 4’s Today
programme.
“There is a
deep sense of betrayal in France because this wasn’t just an arms contract,
this was France setting up a strategic partnership with Australia and the
Australians have now thrown that away and negotiated behind the backs of France
with two Nato allies, the US and UK, to replace it with a completely different
contract.
“For the
French this looks like a complete failure of trust between allies and calls
into doubt what is Nato for. This puts a big rift down the middle of the Nato
alliance … Britain needs a functioning Nato alliance.”
Ricketts
added: “I think people underestimated the impact that this would have in France
and how this would seem as a humiliation and betrayal in a year President
Macron is running for election in a very tight race with the far right.”
The
historic order to recall France’s ambassadors came directly from Macron. A
spokesperson for the Elysée said the “seriousness” of the situation required
the president’s response. “Beyond the question of the breach of a contract and
its consequences, particularly in terms of jobs, there is what this decision
says about the alliance strategy. [Such behaviour] is unacceptable between
allies,” the Elysée said.
In an angry
statement on Friday evening, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian,
said: “This exceptional decision is justified because of the exceptional
seriousness of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the
United States.”
The French
are furious at Australia’s decision to cancel a A$90bn (£48bn) contract it
signed with the French company Naval Group in 2016 for a fleet of 12
state-of-the-art attack class submarines. That deal became bogged down in cost
overruns, delays and design changes. Naval Group said the new deal that will
see Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines built by the US and UK, instead
of those from France, was a “great disappointment”.
Le Drian
had already described the trilateral Aukus security pact – including the
submarine deal – as a “stab in the back”.
“The
abandoning of the ocean-class submarine project that linked Australia and
France since 2016, and the announcement of a new partnership with the United
States to launch studies on possible future cooperation on nuclear-powered
submarines, constitute unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners, the
consequences of which affect the very conception we have of our alliances, our
partnerships and the importance of the Indo-Pacific region for Europe,” he
added.
France is
also furious at what it sees as the dishonesty of statements coming out of
Australia, whose the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said Canberra wanted
nuclear submarines “with more autonomy and more discreet than the conventional
submarines that France proposed”.
France says
it altered the design of its nuclear submarines to diesel because that is what
Australia wanted and ordered.
In terms of
the Indo-Pacific partnership, France is a natural ally for Australia as it has
overseas territories home to more than 1.6 million French citizens in the
region. Paris also has a significant military presence there, with 8,000
soldiers and dozens of ships, including nuclear submarines, positioned in
several bases.
Nathalie
Goulet, an opposition member and vice-president of the French Sénat’s foreign
affairs, defence and armed forces commission, said the situation was “very
disturbing”.
“Someone
should have warned before this breach of contract … I don’t understand this
couldn’t have happened overnight,” she said.
“It’s a
failure for industry, intelligence and communication and a public humiliation …
and nobody likes to be humiliated, even the French.”
It is the
first time France has recalled a US ambassador; the two countries have been
allies since the US war of independence. France also cancelled a gala due to be
held on Friday to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chesapeake Bay,
a decisive event in the war, which ended with the French fleet’s victory over
the British on 5 September 1781.
A White
House official told Reuters that the US regretted the French decision and said
Washington had been in close touch with Paris. The official said the US would
be engaged in the coming days to resolve differences between the two countries.
The UK had
acted in an opportunistic manner, a French diplomatic source said on Friday.
“The UK
accompanied this operation opportunistically,” the source told Reuters. “We do
not need to consult in Paris with our ambassador to know what to think and what
conclusions to draw from it.”
The
Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, in Washington, said she
understood the “disappointment” in Paris and hoped to work with France to
ensure it understands “the value we place on the bilateral relationship and the
work that we want to continue to do together”.
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