As a new deal with the United States and the United Kingdom continues to stir a multi-national diplomatic crisis, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton affirmed on Sunday that Australia was "honest, open, and sincere" with France regarding its concerns over a deal to purchase French submarines.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that Paris should have been aware of the "serious and profound concerns" Canberra had regarding the French submarines prior to the agreement's cancellation last week. Morrison told reporters in Sydney, "I believe they had every reason to know that serious and profound concerns were raised about the capabilities of the 'Attack' class submarines not aligning with our strategic interests. We made it completely clear that we would be making a decision based on our national interest."
Australia abandoned the 2016 agreement with French company Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and announced on Thursday a plan to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines using American and British technology under a trilateral security partnership.
In 2016, France signed a $90 billion Australian contract (56 billion euros) to supply 12 diesel-powered submarines to Australia, which was described as the "contract of the century" due to its size and strategic scope. This move infuriated France, a NATO ally of the United States and the United Kingdom, prompting it to recall its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, and displeased China, the emerging major power in the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions.
Paris called the cancellation of the deal a stab in the back, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian justified the recall of the ambassadors from Canberra and Washington, attributing it to "a serious crisis between us." He downplayed the significance of recalling the ambassador in London, stating, "We know their constant opportunism" following Brexit.
Le Drian also noted that "what happened" would impact the determination of NATO's new strategic concept, although he did not mention the possibility of exiting the alliance. However, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday that Australia had raised concerns with France about the order for two years. Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed on Friday that he had expressed "extremely great concerns" to French President Emmanuel Macron in June regarding the agreement, clarifying that Australia "needed to make a decision based on our national interest."
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham pointed out that Australia informed France of the agreement but acknowledged on Sunday that the negotiations had been secretive due to "significant sensitivities."
