Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is said to have leaked a text message from French President Emmanuel Macron to the press. And relations between Canberra and the Elysee will come under more pressure.
The Australian press has been filled with it in recent days: the leaked text message from French President Emmanuel Macron to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In it, Macron asks in English whether he “should expect good or bad news about submarines.”
The text should prove that Macron knew bad news was coming about a billion-dollar contract with Australia to supply submarines. The Australians canceled this contract under Aukus, the new strategic alliance with the US and the UK, in which the country buys nuclear-powered submarines from the US. Paris says she was not aware of this decision and feels deceived and lied to. But the text in question dates back to two days before the contract was officially terminated.
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The Australian Prime Minister neither confirms nor denies that his services are behind the leak. What I can say is this: We were called when we were trying to arrange a phone call with the French President. He then made it clear that he feared the conversation could turn into a decision not to proceed with the contract.”
Whatever the case, it may have something to do with Macron’s passing at the G20 last weekend. Then the French president replied “I don’t think so, I know” when asked by reporters if the Australian prime minister had lied to him about the submarine contract.
Even after the text was leaked, the Elysee continues to deny that he was aware of talks between Australia and the United States about purchasing other submarines. A source in Macron’s entourage said: “This text only shows that the president did not know that they (the Australians, editor) were going to terminate this contract.” “If they had received a text that clearly stated this, they would have used it.”
The French said they were aware that Australia still had questions about some technical aspects and timing of the project, “as with any similar major contract”. But there were no major problems, according to Paris. At the end of August they told us everything was going well. The day after the text message from the president, Naval Group (the French group that will build submarines, editor) received another message saying that everything was going well. And two days later we got a letter from Morrison blowing up the entire contract, three hours before the press conference to announce Aukus.
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The Aukus deal sparked a diplomatic row in September between the European Union – which it says was unaware of the talks – and the US, UK and Australia. France in particular is driving the impact, precisely because it has seen a multibillion-dollar contract billowing in smoke. So the country called for a few days Return of ambassadors from the United States and Australia.
