Published:
17 Nov 2022 11:13 GMT
The French authorities remain willing to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, he pointed this Thursday Emmanuel Macron at a press conference in Bangkok, reports Bloomberg. Earlier Canberra canceled a submarine contract with Paris and signed another with Washington.
According to the French president, for Australia the variant of buying French submarines or building them jointly with the French country is still “on the table”. However, he noted that after discussions on this issue with Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, at the G20 summit, Canberra “has not decided to change its strategy on the matter.” Meanwhile, Albanese refused at his press conference on Wednesday to comment on military equipment.
In September 2021, Canberra terminated a contract with the French company Naval Group that provided for the construction of 12 conventional submersibles. Australia made this decision in order to sign a new agreement with the US for the purchase of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, within the framework of the AUKUS security alliance. In June, the Australian Government decided to pay US$585 million in compensation to the Naval Group.
