France recalls US and Australia envoys after row over a new security pact

France has decided to immediately recall its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a backlash over a submarine deal, the country’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on Friday.

The decision has been taken by the French Foreign Ministry on a request from President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Drian said that the decision “is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements” made by Australia and the United States, the Associated Press reported quoting the statement.

He said the cancellation by Australia of a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with US technology is “unacceptable behavior.”

Macron has not commented on the issue since President Joe Biden’s announcement of a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain, leading France to lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel-electric submarines.

France has pushed for several years for a European strategy for boosting economic, political, and defense ties in the region stretching from India and China to Japan and New Zealand. The European Union unveiled a plan for the Indo-Pacific this week.

According to a French diplomat quoted by AP, the French President received a letter from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday, stating that the country has decided to cancel the submarine deal.

The French officials were reportedly in discussion with the Pentagon just hours before the public announcement by Biden.

A recall of ambassadors is highly unusual between allied countries. In 2019, Paris recalled its envoy to neighboring Italy after the country’s leaders made critical public comments about the French government. Last year, France recalled its ambassador to Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Macron needed mental health treatment.