“Do I expect good or bad news?” – Corriere.it

Paris If the G-20 in Rome was an opportunity for peace between the French president Emmanuel Macron And the American Joe BidenThe quarrel continues between France and Australia over submarines and the birth ofAukus Rival Alliance (Australia, UK, US). The latest unprecedented gesture is the spread of a short message – Clearly confidential – Macron sent it to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison Two days before the outbreak of the crisis, last September 15.

France has always claimed that it was betrayed by Australia, which has been silent until the last minute to change strategy and reach an agreement with London and Washington in order to The Great Anti-Chinese Alliance in the Indo-Pacific.

France displaced

On September 15, Paris suddenly discovered, thanks to a letter sent by the Australian government, that Canberra had breached the agreement signed in 2016 and that Canberra A 55-billion-euro contract to supply 12 conventional submarines to the Australian Navy has been cancelled. Two hours later, Macron watched in amazement, along with the rest of the world, a joint video conference of Biden, Johnson and Morrison to announce the birth of the Aukus and the provision of Australia with US nuclear submarines.

On the same night, France spoke of its anger frankly and did not hide “betrayal” Based on A complete breakdown of any trust. And in the following days he has It recalled its ambassadors to Washington in Canberra, keep the wagons in London because “Britain is the last wheel of the wagon in this affair,” said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian with unusual disdain.

The clash continues

But the diplomatic work continued On Saturday at the G20 in Rome Biden and Macron metFrance accepted America’s apology, and it seems that relations between the two countries are destined to normalize. But the clash continues with Australia.

On Sunday, also at the G20 in Rome, an Australian journalist asked Macron if he thought the Australian prime minister had lied to him about the submarine affair. “I don’t think so. I know.” “I don’t think so. I know it is.”Macron’s response was dry. Practically speaking, the French president lied to the Australian prime minister publicly.

The answer came today. Australian media published it Screenshot of a text message Macron sent to Morrison two days before it was announced on Aukus.

Good or bad news?
“Do I expect good or bad news about our joint submarine ambition?”

And Macron writes. If the Australian Prime Minister issues this special message, it’s to show it The French were aware that something was wrong with the submarine agreementSo their fall from the clouds on September 15 is not justified: it will be one Preparing to cover up its political and diplomatic failure by bringing charges against Australia.

Elysee’s reaction

The Elysee, as expected, did not like it. Talking about “Totally inaccurate methods” He notes that this letter, on the contrary, is indicative of Macron’s goodwill: he knew that there were technical difficulties related to the agreement on submarines, which was the subject of a meeting the next day between French and Australian experts, but He certainly didn’t suspect that Australia would blow everything up And indeed he was about to announce to the world a great alliance with America and the United Kingdom, with the exception of the French.

For the first time, a private message from a head of state is revealed via text message, and this is another sign of that The submarine crisis removed any diplomatic concern.