Macron is open to recovering cooperation on submarines with Australia

November 17 () –

French President Emmanuel Macron has been open to reviewing Australia’s submarine cooperation agreement following disputes over Canberra’s decision to suspend a multi-billion dollar deal to purchase French submersibles.

In statements at a press conference in Bangkok reported by the Bloomberg agency, the French president stated that the joint construction with Australia or the purchase of French-made submarines “is still on the table”, although he has admitted that there has not been any kind of indication by the Australian Executive.

During the G20 summit held these days in Bali, Indonesia, Macron had the opportunity to meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with whom he reportedly discussed the issue of submarines.

In mid-September 2021, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States reached an agreement that, among other points, authorized the oceanic country’s access to technology for the development of French submarines, leaving aside the agreement that Canberra had with Paris for this finish.

At the time, France called then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision “regrettable” and said it was like “a knife in the back” as it broke the “deal of the century” that France and Australia had reached.

Since May, Macron and the new Australian prime minister have been trying to rebuild their countries’ relations, although France is still mindful of former PM Morrison’s “breach of trust”.

For this reason, Macron and Albanese opted to repair their relations based on “trust and respect” in order to jointly overcome “global challenges”, especially in terms of climate and strategy in the Indo-Pacific.