The French ambassador will make his comeback in Washington next week, announced Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden, in a joint statement, after their telephone interview on Wednesday, on the crisis of the Australian submarines, which promised to restore the trust between France and the United States
The French ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, will return to Washington “next week”, explains the press release. Paris announced Friday the recall of the ambassadors to the United States and Australia, an unprecedented decision vis-à-vis two historic allies, after the torpedoing of a mega-contract of French submarines in Canberra.
“Conditions guaranteeing confidence”
The two heads of state agreed that “open consultations between allies” would “have made it possible to avoid” the crisis of Australian submarines, according to the joint statement from the Elysee and the White House.
“President Biden has expressed his lasting commitment to this subject,” the statement said, adding that the two American and French heads of state, who will meet “in Europe at the end of October,” have ” decided to launch a process of in-depth consultations aimed at establishing the conditions guaranteeing confidence and proposing concrete measures to achieve common objectives ”.
Completing “the role of NATO”
Joe Biden also affirmed that it was “necessary for European defense to be stronger and more efficient” to contribute to transatlantic security and complete “the role of NATO”. The United States “reaffirms that the engagement of France and the European Union in the Indo-Pacific region is of strategic importance”, adds the press release issued six days after the outbreak of the most serious diplomatic crisis between the United States and France since the French “no” to the Iraq war in 2003.
The European Union and the United States must work to “strengthen confidence” in their partnership, said for his part, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, at the start of a meeting with his American counterpart, Antony Blinken , this Wednesday. “We can build trust between us,” he said, referring to a “very turbulent week” so far in the corridors of the United Nations, whose General Assembly began on Tuesday. Antony Blinken argued that the two partners are already working a lot together “around the world, including of course about Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific region and Europe”.