France has accused longtime allies Australia and the United States of lying over a security pact that saw the Australian government scrap a contract to buy French submarines in favour of US vessels.
“There has been lying, duplicity, a major breach of trust and contempt,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian alleged on Saturday. “This will not do,” he told France 2 television.
Le Drian was speaking a day after Paris, on the orders of President Emmanuel Macron, recalled its ambassadors to Canberra and Washington, an unprecedented act that revealed the extent of the anger in France over the rupture of the multibillion-dollar contract.
He described the withdrawal of the ambassadors as a “very symbolic” act which aimed “to show how unhappy we are and that there is a serious crisis between us and to re-evaluate our positions to defend our interests”.
“The fact that for the first time in the history of relations between the United States and France we are recalling our ambassador for consultations is a serious political act, which shows the magnitude of the crisis that exists now between our countries,” he said.
Al Jazeera
