It is a hard blow for French diplomacy.
A few hours after the Australian decision to cancel the acquisition of twelve French submarines in favor of a new security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, the entire political class reacted strongly.
Starting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, who denounced this Thursday on France Info a
"blow in the back"
.
“I am very angry today.
It is not done between allies, ”
he added.
Before pointing the finger at the American military partnership:
"This unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision looks a lot like what Mr. Trump was doing."
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With the loss of this "contract of the century" to more than 30 billion euros, Emmanuel Macron is experiencing a bad diplomatic patch and concentrates, a few months before the presidential election, most of the criticism of the opposition. In the ranks of the right, long attached to the Gaullist principle of independence and the greatness of France, many officials went to the front. “
The largest French military contract, concluded with Australia, has just been canceled. France is no longer respected by its allies,
”denounces Xavier Bertrand, who is worried about the repercussions for the
“ French naval sector ”
. The presidential candidate calls in particular on the President of the Republic to protect threatened jobs.
Her rival Valérie Pécresse protested against a "
diplomatic snub
", "a
worrying sign of our defense industry
".
For the deputy (LR) of the Alpes-Maritimes Éric Ciotti, also contender for the primary of the right, the cancellation of the contract "
benefits the United States
" and represents "
guilty naivety vis-à-vis Joe Biden
" and the “
loss of French influence under the Macron presidency
”.
Read alsoSubmarines: Biden torpedo the "contract of the century" between France and Australia, the lessons of an Indo-Pacific Trafalgar
For his part, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, president of Debout la France, did not hesitate to evoke a "
sickly Atlanticism of Emmanuel Macron (...) humiliated by countries which have respect only for the Free Nations and independent.
At the National Rally, it was Marine Le Pen who replied most vigorously. The presidential candidate denounces in a press release
"a triple disaster"
: economic, military and political. "
A public humiliation of France and an extremely serious attack on its image as an industrial power
"
,
adds the former president of the party, who asks for a commission of inquiry into this affair.
On the left, almost no PS or EELV official reacted. Only the leader of France Insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced, in a press release, the United States "
great beneficiaries of this turnaround
". For the presidential candidate whose speech is often marked by anti-Americanism, “
it is time to stop deluding ourselves, to refuse corporalization, to leave NATO.
"
