France was outraged after Australia announced it would cancel a deal to buy submarines from France and instead purchase nuclear submarines from the U.S.
PARIS — French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday evening that France is immediately recalling its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia in a backlash over a canceled submarine deal. Le Drian said in a statement that the decision, on request from President Emmanuel Macron, “is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements” made by Australia and the U.S. He said the cancellation by Australia of a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with U.S. technology is “unacceptable behavior.” “At the request of President Macron, I have decided to immediately recall our ambassadors to the United States and Australia to Paris for consultations,” Le Drian said. “This extraordinary decision reflects the exceptional seriousness of the announcements made on September 15 by Australia and the United States. The abandonment of the ocean-class submarine project that Australia and France had been working on since 2016 and the announcement of a new partnership with the United States aimed at studying the possibility of future cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines constitute unacceptable behavior among allies and partners; their consequences affect the very concept we have of our alliances, our partnerships, and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe.
