US-French spat seems to simmer down after Biden-Macron call

Paris, Sept. 23 (BNA): The most significant feud in decades between the United States and France seemed to improve on Wednesday after French President Emmanuel Macron and President Joe Biden called on Wednesday to calm matters.

In a half-hour call described as “friendly” by the White House, the two leaders agreed to meet next month to discuss ways forward after France vehemently objected when the United States, Australia and Britain announced a new Indo-Pacific defense deal. The week that cost the French a multibillion-dollar submarine contract. France also agreed to return its ambassador to Washington, the Associated Press reported.

The White House made sure to publish a picture of Biden smiling during his call with Macron.

In a carefully worded joint statement, the two governments said Biden and Macron “decided to open a process of in-depth consultations aimed at creating conditions to ensure confidence.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly avoided the question, allowing Biden to admit that “greater consultations could have taken place.”

“The President hopes this will be a step to return to normal in a long, important, and enduring relationship between the United States and France,” she said.

The call indicated a calming of nerves after days of anger from Paris directed against the Biden administration.

In an unprecedented move, France last week recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in protest at what the French said was a stab in the back by allies. As part of the defense pact, Australia will cancel a multi-billion dollar contract to buy French diesel-electric submarines and get US nuclear-powered ships instead.

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The joint statement said the French ambassador would “work extensively with senior US officials” upon his return to the United States.

Biden and Macron agreed that “the situation would have benefited from open consultations between allies on issues of strategic importance to France and our European partners,” the statement said.

Biden reiterated in the statement the “strategic importance of French and European participation in the Indo-Pacific region.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a visit to Washington, did not hide his words in suggesting that it was time for France to move beyond its anger over the submarine deal, saying that French officials should “get in control”. He added that by using the French and English words, you should give him a “break”.

Johnson said the deal was “essentially a major step forward for global security. They are three like-minded allies standing side by side, creating a new technology-sharing partnership.”

“It is not exclusive. She is not trying to put up with anyone. She is not hostile towards China, for example.”

Psaki refused to consider whether Johnson’s comments were constructive at a time when the United States was trying to mend relations with France.

Last week, the European Union unveiled its new strategy to boost economic, political and defense ties in the vast region stretching from India and China through Japan to Southeast Asia and eastward after New Zealand to the Pacific Ocean.

The statement said the United States “also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defense, which contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and complements NATO.”

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The Elysee said that no decision had been taken regarding the French ambassador to Australia, adding that a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not scheduled.

Earlier Wednesday, Macron’s office said the French president expected “clarifications and clear commitments” from Biden, who requested the call.

French officials described the announcement by the US, UK and Australia last week as creating a “crisis of confidence”, with Macron only being officially notified a few hours before. The move sparked outrage in Paris, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian calling it a “stab in the back”.

France’s European Union partners agreed on Tuesday to put the dispute at the top of the bloc’s political agenda, including at an EU summit next month.

Following the Macron-Biden phone call, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met in New York with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell as the administration worked to repair the damage done to EU-US relations by the deal.

Blinken spoke of the need for transatlantic cooperation on any number of issues “in the literal sense of the word around the world, to include, of course, Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific region, Europe and beyond.”

Borrell, after noticing the phone call, said he hoped to be able to “build a stronger trust between us after the conversation this morning between President Biden and President Macron. I’m sure we’ll work together.”

The French presidency categorically denied a report published by the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, on Wednesday, which stated that Macron may offer his country’s permanent seat in the UN Security Council to the European Union if the bloc supports his plans to defend the European Union.

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Psaki echoed Johnson’s view that the creation of the new security alliance – which he called AUKUS – was not intended to freeze other allies in the Indo-Pacific strategy.

“During the conversation, the president reaffirmed the strategic importance of France – French and European countries I must say – in the Indo-Pacific region,” Psaki said.

The deal is widely seen as part of the US effort to counter a more assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.

RAE

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