(Rome) “I know” Prime Minister Scott Morrison lied to me, Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday about the secret negotiations between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom on the Aukus defense agreement, which resulted in the breach of a Franco-Australian contract on submarines.
“Do you think Scott Morrison lied to you?” », Asked an Australian journalist, on the sidelines of the G20 in Rome.
“I don’t think so, I know”, replied in a filmed response the French president, who had already expressed his anger after the breakdown of the agreement between France and Australia for the sale of twelve submarines for 79 billions of dollars.
“We are discussing, we will see what he does,” he said of the possibility of giving him back his confidence.
“I have a lot of respect for your country and a lot of respect and friendship for your people,” he continued, but “when you have respect, you have to be two and behave in accordance with these values” .
Emmanuel Macron spoke Thursday with the Australian Prime Minister for the first time since the crisis caused by the announcement in mid-September of a new alliance between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, called Aukus, who torpedoed the French submarine mega-contract.
The French president then repeated to him that this breach of contract “had broken the relationship of trust between our two countries”.
This quarrel also caused a crisis between France and the United States, going as far as the recall of the French ambassador for a few days.
During a meeting on Friday with US President Joe Biden, the latter, obviously eager to overcome this quarrel, did not apologize, but admitted that what had been “done was awkward and was not done with great elegance ”. He assured that he believed that “France had been informed very early that the contract would not be done”.