Submarine crisis: Macron wants the Europeans to come out of "naivety" and be "respected" by the United States

His return to France had single-handedly symbolized "the gravity" of the diplomatic crisis at stake. Philippe Étienne, the French ambassador to Washington called back in a hurry by Paris at the start of the submarine crisis, will fly away for the United States this Wednesday.

The announcement was made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who reacted to the submarine crisis on Tuesday in strong terms.

“The United States of America is and will remain great historical allies, but we are forced to note that for a little over 10 years now, the United States first and foremost has focused a lot on itself and has strategic interests which are reorienting themselves towards China and the Pacific ”, commented the Head of State on the occasion of a press conference given alongside the Greek Prime Minister.

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Joint press conference of the President @EmmanuelMacron and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic @ KMitsotakis.https: //t.co/IcjPAbhXdm

- Elysee (@Elysee) September 28, 2021

The latter thus implied that France was going to review its strategic objectives at the international level.

"We would make a terrible mistake not to want to take the consequences and see it for ourselves," he continued.

A new exchange with Biden scheduled for mid-October

Emmanuel Macron had exchanged with US President Joe Biden last Wednesday about the Franco-Australian contract broken by Australia for the benefit of an covert alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom.

"There is no new fact since this discussion," the French president commented on Tuesday.

The French ambassador in Washington will leave tomorrow "with a clear mandate on the basis of the discussion we have had to establish the conditions for a re-engagement," he continued.

"On the basis of this exchange, exchanges which will be renewed in the coming weeks, we will speak again with President Biden in mid-October to be able to establish the conditions for such a re-engagement," said Emmanuel Macron.

Read alsoSubmarine contract broken: the United States is strengthening its air presence in Australia

The AUKUS alliance forged by Australia with the United States and the United Kingdom which deprives France of a contract for the supply of submarines to Australia "in no way changes France's Indo-Pacific strategy" , insisted Emmanuel Macron.

“France is an Indo-Pacific power regardless of any contract since we have a million compatriots living in this region and we have more than 8,000 soldiers deployed there.

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"All the consequences are yet to be determined"

"The Australian choice, of which moreover all the consequences are still to be determined in the coming weeks, has no impact on the French Indo-Pacific strategy", insists Emmanuel Macron, who sees consequences for the French industry " limited ”to“ a few hundred jobs mainly in engineering ”.

French President and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed a military contract on Tuesday for the order by Athens of three frigates as part of the strengthening of the “strategic partnership” between France and Greece, which will be manufactured in France.

This acquisition of several billion euros alleviates a little the economic pain caused by the termination of the Australian mega-contract and represents a "first daring step towards European strategic autonomy".

This autonomy is a theme that Emmanuel Macron tries to address in the face of the evolution of American foreign policy.

It remains for Paris to “show that we too have the power and the capacity to defend ourselves” and to “make ourselves respected”, in the words used by the Head of State.