France fuming over Biden ‘backstab’ on US-UK-Aussie nuclear submarines pact
By Steven Nelson
September 16, 2021 12:22pm Updated
France’s government is fuming over President Biden’s decision to exclude the NATO ally from a three-country security pact called AUKUS that will provide nuclear submarines to Australia, likening the snub to being stabbed in the back.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio, “It is really a stab in the back. We built a relationship of trust with Australia, and this trust was betrayed and I’m angry today, with a lot of bitterness, about this breach.”
The AUKUS initiative includes the UK and aims to strengthen cooperation as China emerges as a strategic threat. It also affirms the US alliance with Australia after Biden snubbed the country’s prime minister during the recent Afghanistan troop pullout.
“This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr. Trump used to do,” Le Drian told France Info, referring to Biden’s predecessor. “I am angry and bitter. This isn’t done between allies.”
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Furious Over Sub Deal, France Recalls Ambassadors to U.S. and Australia
PARIS — Calling American and Australian behavior “unacceptable between allies and partners,” France announced on Friday that it was recalling its ambassadors to both countries in protest over President Biden’s decision to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
It was the first time in the history of the long alliance between France and the United States, dating back to 1778, that a French ambassador has been recalled to Paris in this way for consultations. The decision by President Emmanuel Macron reflects the extent of French outrage at what it has a called a “brutal” American decision and a “stab in the back” from Australia.
In a statement, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, said the decision was made by Mr. Macron, who is understood to be furious about the way the United States, Britain and Australia negotiated the deal without informing France.
Australia on Wednesday canceled a $66 billion agreement to purchase French-built, conventionally powered submarines, hours before the deal with Washington and London was announced.
“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,” the statement said. “This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional gravity of the announcements made on 15 September by Australia and the United States.”
