Mellow, Submarine: Biden and Macron to Speak About Broken Sub Deal

French President Emmanuel Macron will speak in the coming days with President Joe Biden in their first contact since a major diplomatic crisis erupted between France and the United States over a submarine deal with Australia, an official said Sunday. The deal by the United States reflects the American pivot toward the Indo-Pacific region, seen as increasingly strategic as China bolsters its influence there. Yet France feels the deal steps on its feet in a region where it has long had a strong presence that it, too, is working to bolster, in addition to a five-year contract with Australia.

The phone call is at the request of President Biden, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said, adding that there was “shock” and “anger” at first in France over the news of the deal. But now it’s time to try to move forward, he said.

What the French now call a “grave crisis” erupted over the sudden, surprise end to a 2016 contract worth at least $66 billion between France and Australia to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines. Instead, Australia signed on with the United States and Britain for eight nuclear-powered submarines. France insists it was not informed of the deal in advance.

France recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia in a sign of the seriousness of the crisis. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met Sunday with the two ambassadors to discuss “the strategic consequences of the current crisis,” the ministry said without elaborating.

French President Macron and President Biden will hold a call soon “to move forward,” per French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 19, 2021

 

“France is a country of the Indo-Pacific,” Attal said, noting the French territory of New Caledonia, the French citizens living in the region, and the French military forces based there. The Indo-Pacific is also an issue for Europe, he said. Macron will be seeking explanations from Biden about what led to a “major rupture in confidence,” the spokesperson added. “There was a moment of shock, of anger … Now, we must advance.”

It's quite striking to see this spat with France unfold under Biden, who ran a presidential campaign heavily focused on restoring America's alliances abroad. Biden also regularly touted his years of foreign policy experience as a contrast with Trump https://t.co/2pHhXlUdch

— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) September 17, 2021

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday that France “would have had every reason to know that we have deep and grave concerns” about the capability of France’s Attack class subs, which he said can’t meet Australia’s strategic interests.

#BREAKING US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls France 'vital partner' in Pacific after Australia rift pic.twitter.com/R3gWifmqrL

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 16, 2021