By Dartunorro Clark - NBC News
France announced on Friday the withdrawal of its ambassadors to the United States and Australia after feeling that
its interests in the region of the Indian and Pacific oceans have been undermined
by the new agreement signed by the Joe Biden Administration on nuclear submarines.
"This exceptional decision is justified by
the exceptional gravity of the announcements
made on September 15 by Australia and the United States," explained Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a statement.
[North and South Korea test ballistic missiles amid rising tensions]
In this photo provided by the United States Navy, the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN 780) departs from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on September 1.
Australia decided to invest in US nuclear powered submarines and ditch its contract with France to build diesel-electric submarines.
Earlier this week, Biden announced a security alliance with Australia and the United Kingdom.
One of the first measures of the United States as part of the agreement will be to
help Australia in the purchase of nuclear submarines,
which offer more stealth capabilities, speed and range than traditional ones, according to the president.
Only a handful of countries, including China and Russia, have nuclear-powered submarines.
["There were 42 souls aboard that ship." An explorer finds submarines that sank more than 70 years ago]
The French minister said that this new pact constitutes an offense to an agreement between France and Australia.
"The cancellation of the Attack-class submarine program that has linked Australia and France since 2016, and the announcement of a new partnership with the United States aimed at launching studies on possible future cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines, constitute
a unacceptable behavior between allies and partners,
”said the French foreign minister.
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What happened has consequences that "directly affect the vision we have of our agreements, of our allies and of the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe," he said.