after losing a 66 billion dollars deal this is a win that macron desperately needs
it is also strong support for his call for european defense autonomy
in fact last month mitsutaka said at the elysee palace we share a common vision of
an autonomous response capability to the challenges facing europe
france has expressed displeasure at being blinded by the uk us pact by stating that paris
was stabbed in the back the anger is not entirely attributable to the debilitating blow the french
defense industry has received over the unexpected cancellation of a 65 billion dollars deal of the
century to build and sell 12 conventional diesel electric submarines to australia
paris's annoyance is rooted in the diplomatic snags the deal poses
the signing of the auk u.s pact by australia the uk and the u.s not only harms the
commercial interests of the french defense industry and its confidence in the countries
it considers close allies but also hurts the country's prospects in the indo-pacific region
most importantly the deal was known to have hurt paris pride it seems that france while
still recovering from the aftermath of the auk u.s deal a trilateral security pact is now hoping
to restore its image by expanding the circle of buyers for defence equipment designed and
manufactured the increased cooperation of the multi-billion dollar warship deal with greece
and the aggressive push to sell rafale jets to the uae a recent poster uk us developments
the submarine deal with australia is symbolic of france's strategic commitment to the indo-pacific
as a population force that has four naval bases maintains some seven thousand
troops and has 1.5 million citizens in the region europeans are based on the geopolitics
of the region the three-way a uk u.s contract harms those long-term geopolitical interests
in what greek prime minister kiriakos mitsutaka has called the first step towards european defense
autonomy athens revealed that it had finalized an agreement for the procurement of between six and
eight french-made warships along with fostering a strategic defense partnership with france
the deal valued at five billion dollars will provide the athena
with three gowind corvettes and the highly sophisticated belhara frigate
the nation will have the option to buy another one each as well local reports have stated that
the ship will be delivered in 2026. the first frigate is expected to arrive in early 2024