In a heated submarine dispute between France, the United States and Australia, the French Naval Group intends to submit a “detailed and calculated proposal” to the Australian state at the cost of canceling the agreed delivery of submarines.
The company’s president, Pierre-Eric Palmet, told French newspaper Le Figaro that Australia would receive an invoice “within a few weeks”. “Australia terminated the treaty for convenience, which means we are not responsible,” he said.
“This is a contract issue and requires payment of costs already incurred and future costs,” Baumelier told the newspaper. These include, for example, the cost of ‘redundancy of infrastructure and information technology’ and ‘pooling of employees’. “We will claim our rights,” Baumlet reiterated.
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As US President Joe Biden and French head of state Emmanuel Macron try to get closer, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Macron has treated him with a cold so far.
Morrison said on a visit to Washington on Wednesday evening that he tried to contact Macron, but “it hasn’t happened yet.” “We will be patient and understand your disappointment,” he said, referring to the failed submarine deal between the two countries.
Biden and Macron are trying to relax
Meanwhile, President Biden and Macron agreed in a telephone conversation between their governments, the White House, and Elysee to have “intense consultations” announced in a joint statement.
The two governments’ declaration said the talks should “create conditions for guaranteeing confidence” and propose “concrete measures to achieve common goals”. Philippe tienne, the summoned French ambassador to the United States, is expected to return to Washington next week.
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According to US information, the foreign ministers of both countries spoke personally on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings last Wednesday. Then Biden and Macron want to meet face-to-face in Europe at the end of October. In late October, the G20 summit will take place in Rome, Italy, before the start of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
deep disagreement between diplomatic partners
The submarine dispute has created a deep rift between the two historically allied countries. Last week the United States, Great Britain and Australia announced an Indo-Pacific alliance, which also includes joint construction of nuclear submarines for Australia.
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As Australia violated a long-planned submarine agreement with France worth billions of dollars, Paris was deeply troubled. The French government called the deal’s failure a “betrayal” and temporarily withdrew its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra.
Australia complained that working with the Naval Group, which is partly owned by the French state, was years behind schedule and budget.
In 2016, Canberra signed a contract to purchase 12 diesel submarines. The deal was dubbed the “Decade of the Century” and was valued at AU$50 billion. The contract was then revalued at 56 billion euros.
According to the French Ministry of Defense, the naval group has already completed 900 million euros of work on the submarines. However, according to the department, there was no loss to the company as the work was covered by Australian payments already made. (AFP)