Australia agreed on the Aukus Defense Alliance with the United States and Britain last fall. As a result of the decision, the country canceled a multi-billion dollar contract with France.
Australia plans to reimburse France € 555 million for its submarine trade canceled. The new Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese said on Saturday the administration reached an agreement with the French company Naval Group.
Australia agreed on the Aukus Defense Alliance with the United States and Britain last fall. As a result of the decision, the country canceled a multi-billion dollar contract with France. At the same time, Australia decided to build nuclear submarines with the support of the alliance.
In addition to the cancellation of the trade, France has been frustrated by its exclusion from the alliance between Australia, the United States and Britain.
The submarine dispute also postponed trade talks between the EU and Australia. The EU has defended its member country France in the dispute, and the case also seems to have affected EU-Australia relations.
The new prime minister warmed the gap between the countries
Relations between France and Australia were icy before the Australian parliamentary elections in May. The new Prime Minister, Albanese, has warmed up talks with France, among other things.
“We are returning to a better relationship between Australia and France,” Albanese said after discussing with the French president Emmanuel Macronin with.
Macron has publicly accused Prime Minister Morrison, who has now receded, of lying. France also momentarily removed its ambassador from Australia at the start of the dispute.
The then Prime Minister of Australia, who once agreed with France on the submarine trade Malcolm Turnbull criticized the decision of the now resigned government and said that Morrison deliberately topped France.
The alliance also tightened the gap between France and the United States, and France, for example, invited its ambassador from the United States home for a moment.