Australia's PM Albanese meets France's Macron to mend thwarted ties over submarine deal

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and France's President Emmanuel Macron met on Friday and welcomed a "new beginning" in the two countries' relations following a diplomatic row over a snubbed submarine deal contract earlier last year by the erstwhile Scott Morrison administration. "My presence here represents a new start for our countries' relationship," Albanese stated during a presser in Élysée Palace. "Australia's relationship with France matters. Trust, respect and honesty matter. This is how I will approach my relations," he continued. Meanwhile, Macron, speaking alongside his Australian counterpart, emphasized that Albanese did not have to apologise on behalf of the Scott Morrison administration for torpedoing the submarine contract.

Both the leaders already initiated talks on the sidelines of the NATO summit and held the first one-on-one at Friday's working lunch. Macron, during Albanese's visit, acknowledged the era of the "difficult times" that the two countries had faced which had dismantled their strategic partnership.

“Australia’s relationship with France matters," said Albanese during his visit. “Trust, respect and honesty matters. That is how I will approach our relations," he added. 

The French leader stressed on their joint interests in stability in the Asia Pacific region. “We will speak about the future, not the past,” said Emmanuel Macron, adding, “He’s not responsible for what happened.” According to Élysée's statement, Macron stressed that the two countries will cooperate in space, the Antarctic in addition to the shared commitments to tackling climate change. He further emphasized the urgent necessity of instating the law and order in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. Albanese ahead of his visit had told reporters in Canberra that he wants to cement the trust and honesty with France. “What I want to do, though, is to make sure that we can look forward. It should be a relationship in which we can rely upon each other as we have for a long period of time, and in which we can trust each other and mutually benefit from building that relationship," he reportedly stated. 

Australia will pay $830 mn penalty for scrapped French submarines deal

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier confirmed that he has agreed to pay €550 million (A$830m) in a settlement for scrapping the French attack class submarine project ahead of the signing of the AUKUS pact that was reached after the 18-month consultation period. Canberra will pay the submarine builder Naval Group over the former Scott Morrison government’s snubbing of the $90 bn project ahead of signing the 'Exchange of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information Agreement’ AUKUS pact with the United Kingdom and the US. AUKUS defence alliance was signed in September 2021 in a bid to confront strategic tensions in the Pacific where China-US rivalry is growing. 

In an attempt to reset Australia’s strained ties with France, the Australian government announced in a statement that it will bear the compensation outlined in the confidential settlement of the deal.