WASHINGTON – France, still mad about the submarine deal Australia struck with the United States and the United Kingdom, has recalled its ambassadors from the U.S. and Australia.
France’s foreign minister said Friday that the country immediately recalled the ambassadors in protest of a trilateral security deal that included nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.
“At the request of the President of the Republic, I have decided to immediately recall our two ambassadors to the United States and Australia to Paris for consultations,” French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement.
“This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States.”
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden helped unveil the formation of a new partnership between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Prime Ministers Scott Morrison of Australia and Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom joined Biden virtually for the announcement of the partnership. The leaders said that the security partnership would seek to strengthen stability in the Indo-Pacific region as China expands its military might and influence.
The deal also, in part, ends a long-standing submarine contract between France and Australia and replaces it with a deal between the U.S. and U.K.
The U.S. and U.K. agreed Wednesday to assist Canberra in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, which will allow Australia’s navy to help counter Chinese nuclear-powered vessels in the region.
“It was a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia. This trust has been betrayed,” France minister of foreign affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian told radio station Franceinfo Thursday morning.
The latest development from Paris adds to the fallout.
On Thursday French officials in Washington canceled a gala at their sprawling compound.
A French official confirmed that the event, which was slated to commemorate the 240th anniversary of the Battle of the Capes, will no longer take place at the embassy in Washington on Friday evening.
“Other parts of the celebration are still ongoing,” including a wreath-laying ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland, the official said. Two other events involving a French destroyer in Baltimore and a French submarine in Norfolk’s harbor have not been canceled.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Thursday that he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken to their French counterparts about the new security pact ahead of its unveiling.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that Austin spoke again with his French counterpart on Friday morning.
“I won’t characterize the French side of course but it was clear from the discussion that there is still much work to do in terms of our defense relationship with France,” Kirby said, adding that the two discussed shared challenges and interests.
