CANBERRA / SYDNEY, Nov 3 (Reuters) – French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thébault said on Wednesday that Australia acted deceptively when it abruptly canceled a multi-million dollar deal with Paris to build a fleet of submarines.
“The hoax was intentional,” Thébault told media in Canberra on Wednesday.
“And since there was much more at stake than the supply of submarines, because it was a common sovereignty agreement, sealed with the transmission of highly classified data, the way it was handled was a stab in the back.”
In September, Australia canceled an agreement with the French Naval Group and chose to build at least 12 nuclear-powered submarines in a deal with the United States and the United Kingdom.
The decision has sparked a major bilateral rift, with France withdrawing its ambassadors from Australia and the United States in protest. Thébault returned to Canberra last month and Wednesday’s speech is the first time he has spoken publicly about the bilateral relationship.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that Morrison had lied to him about Canberra’s intentions.
Morrison has denied the claim. He said he had previously explained to Macron that conventional submarines would no longer meet Australia’s needs.
Morrison and Macron spoke last week before the Australian leader publicly sought a handshake with his French counterpart at the G20 meeting.
The destabilization of the usually close diplomatic relations between the two nations now threatens to spill over into commercial consequences.
The European Union has twice postponed a planned round of free trade talks with Australia. In solidarity with France, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, questioned whether the bloc could reach a trade agreement with Australia.
The relationship was further tested this week after Australian media published leaked messages between Morrison and Macron that attempted to counter France’s claim that Australia had not given it sufficient notice that the contract would be canceled.
US President Joe Biden said last week that the management of the new pact had been clumsy, adding that he thought France had been informed of the cancellation of the contract before the new pact was announced.
(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett, Colin Packham and Renju Jose; editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry, translated by José Muñoz at the Gdańsk newsroom)