Le Drian accuses the allies of lying and breach of trust.
(Photo: AP)
Paris France sees the relationship within NATO as strained by the dispute over a failed submarine deal with Australia. “You also have to question the strength of the alliance with the United States,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Saturday evening on France 2.
“In a real alliance you talk to each other and respect each other, that was not the case.” What happened is a burden on NATO’s new strategic concept. Le Drian spoke of lies and a breach of trust. “That doesn’t work at all, that means there is a crisis.”
At the request of President Emmanuel Macron, France had already called its ambassadors from the USA and Australia back for consultations the previous evening.
Australia announced on Thursday that it wanted to procure nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new security alliance with the United States and Great Britain and that it would refrain from buying French submarines, which was sealed in 2016. The decision, of which France, as Le Drian said on Saturday evening, learned an hour before the announcement, means the loss of a 56 billion euro agreement for France.
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Le Drian called on Europe to work together to better defend its interests after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the submarine dispute. That was urgent.
“If Europeans do not realize that if they want to remain part of history they have to get together and defend their interests together, then their fate will be completely different and we cannot go in this harmful direction.”
More: The controversial submarine deal shows how easily Europe can be passed over in the struggle of the great powers