Australia defends criticism over new submarine deal

– The Prime Minister says I do not regret putting Australia’s national interests first Reuters, After US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented a new security agreement between the countries.

The deal, dubbed the Aukus, will see Australia now have access to US technology shared with the United Kingdom and have a modern, nuclear-powered submarine. However, the submarines in the contract will not have nuclear weapons.

Also means FranceSEK, which signed an agreement with Australia on submarines in 2016, will lose the equivalent of $ 350 billion from a deal worth more than $ 500 billion.

Hours before the announcement, the French, who knew of the new treaty, responded angrily. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the new deal as “stabbing in the back”, and on Friday night, President Emmanuel Macron invited his ambassadors home from the United States and Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he understands the frustration of the French government. However, according to his own statement, Morrison and other ministers had raised suspicions about the previous deal with the French several months ago.

He further added that the Australian government was “negligent” in not breaking the agreement with France after consulting with the intelligence and defense services.

And Australia’s Secretary of Defense According to Peter Dutton, they have been open and sincere about concerns about the deal since 2016.

“The claims that the concerns were not flagged by the Australian government contradict what France has long said publicly,” he told Sky News.

The Australian defense minister did not want to say how much the new agreement signed with the United States and the United Kingdom was worth, but said it would not be a “cheap project”.

The security agreement was announced at the same time as relations between Australia and China deteriorated. According to Prime Minister Morrison, the new agreement will “create new security in the Pacific.” He has previously said that Australia does not want to become a nuclear power.

On Sunday, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced that President Emmanuel Macron would hold talks with US President Joe Biden on the submarine deal.

– They will talk on the phone in the next few days. We want an explanation, says Atal to the French TV channel BFM

read more:

Australian nuclear submarines provoke French outrage – call their ambassadors home

The new submarine agreement creates a rift between France and the United States