A strong sign.
The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese want to "rebuild a bilateral relationship based on trust and respect", after the diplomatic crisis linked to the termination of a mega-contract for French submarines, announced Thursday the Elysée in a press release after the telephone exchange between the two leaders.
"After noting the deep breach of trust that followed former Prime Minister Scott Morrison's decision to end the future submarine program" 8 months ago, Emmanuel Macron and Anthony Albanese, want to "overcome global challenges together, first and foremost the climate emergency, and the strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific", specified the Elysée.
“Contribute to peace”
"A roadmap will be prepared to structure this new bilateral agenda, by identifying strategic cooperation between our two countries with the aim of strengthening our resilience and contributing to regional peace and security," the statement added.
Labor Anthony Albanese, 59, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on Monday, following his party's victory in the legislative elections on Saturday.
About the defeat of Scott Morrison in the legislative elections, the outgoing French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian said that it "suits him very well".
Canberra had provoked a masterful quarrel last September with Paris by tearing up a contract for the sale of French submarines to the Australian navy for more than 50 billion euros, preferring them Anglo-American nuclear-powered submarines, whose French buildings were not provided.
To mark its anger, France had recalled its ambassador to the United States, an unprecedented act vis-à-vis this historic ally, as well as that in Australia, the country at the origin of the crisis.
In early April, Australian authorities admitted that Canberra would have to pay up to 5.5 billion Australian dollars (3.7 billion euros) to end the agreement with France.