Macron Yet to Take Scott Morrison's Call: Where the France-Australia Diplomatic Row Stands Right Now

While US president Joe Biden held a 30-minute call with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron amid the diplomatic crisis on nuclear-powered submarines deal with Australia, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has said Macron is yet to take his calls.

As Morrison landed in the United States for the quad summit between India, Japan, United States and Australia he was faced with questions about the diplomatic row with France.

The Sydney Morning Herald, on questions about a call with Macron, quoted the Australian prime minister as saying, “Yes, we have and the opportunity for that call is not yet, but we’ll be patient… We understand their disappointment and that is the way that you manage difficult issues.”

Morrison said that the decision to scrap the deal with France was in the interest of his country. “That is something that Australia should always do, and I think that all Australians would expect me to do. Hard decisions have to be made by prime ministers about our interests,” the report quoted him as saying.

What Led to This Row?

Exactly a week ago on September 16, France hit out at Australia for the sudden cancellation of the submarine deal by Australia, calling it a ‘stab in the back’. The deal was cancelled as Australia went for nuclear-powered submarines from the United States. This is a privilege as the US has only shared this technology with the UK before Australia.

The deal with France was from 2016 for 12 conventional diesel-electric Barracuda class submarines. France’s Naval Group, partly owned by the state, was going to build these submarines and was worth $90 billion.

Along with the news of cancellation was the announcement of a new security group AUKUS between the UK, US and Australia.

A furious French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio, “It’s really a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed. I’m very angry today, and bitter… this is not something allies do to each other.”

Le Drian compared this to previous US president Donald Trump’s decision making patterns. He said, “This unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision very much recalls what Mr Trump would do.” Le Drian added, referring to the previous US president Donald Trump who exasperated Europe with unpredictable decision-making.

As a result of the sudden cancellation of the pact, France also recalled its ambassadors to Australia and the US. French ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault, while leaving Sydney, was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “I’ve seen and learned how deep for an Australian it is when you commit to watch each other’s back. What makes me sad is that we thought we were mates and we were stabbed in the back.”

Where Do Things Stand Now?

While Biden spoke to Macron for over 30 minutes on Wednesday, joint statement between the United States and France afterward said Macron and Biden “agreed that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners.”

Macron has also agreed to return its ambassador to the US to Washington after the phone call. US press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden admitted that there could have been more discussion on the issue ahead of the sudden announcement that infuriated France.

However, there is no clarity on whether Thebault will be sent back to Australia soon. While both Morrison and Macron will be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Australian prime minister had said that there would be no opportunity for a meeting with the French leader this time.

“There is not an opportunity for that at this time. I’m sure that opportunity will come in time,” Morrison told reporters in New York when asked if he would speak to Macron on the sidelines of the UNGA, reported Reuters.

France has gained support from the allies in the European Union that have spoken out on the issue.

German Europe minister Michael Roth said France’s diplomatic crisis with the US was a “wake-up call” on the importance of uniting a divided EU on foreign and security policy.nThe show of solidarity from Germany and the EU’s top officials was welcomed by France, which said the breakdown of trust with Washington strengthened the case for Europe to set its own strategic course, reported AFP.

France’s minister for European affairs Clement Beaune called the row “a European issue” not simply a French one, as he arrived at ministerial talks in Brussels, with the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan in August also a source of irritation among EU members.

“I don’t think France is overreacting and I don’t think France should overreact. But when a situation… is serious, I think it’s also our responsibility to state it very clearly,” he said.

EU Council chief Charles Michel said he had a “frank, direct and lively exchange on AUKUS” with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

And EU internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, warned there was a growing feeling “that something is broken” in Europe’s ties with Washington. “So it is probably time to pause and reset our EU-US relationship,” AFP quoted him as saying in a speech in Washington.

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and Ukraine-Russia War Live Updates here.