Elysée officials have expressed fury at the decision of Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, to leak a private text message from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as the diplomatic rift between the two countries deepened.
“Confidence has been completely shattered,” a close adviser to Macron told French media on Tuesday. “Disclosing a text message exchange between heads of state or government is a pretty crude and unconventional tactic.”
The adviser told Le Parisien that it “would never even enter the head” of the French president to disclose communications of this kind. “It is not the kind of thing that is likely to improve relations between France and Australia,” they said.
In the text, two days before the announcement of the Aukus security partnership and the cancellation of a major French contract to supply submarines to Australia, Macron asked Morrison whether he could expect good or bad news on the submarines.
Its publication came after Macron told reporters he “knew” that Morrison had lied to him over plans with the US and the UK to acquire nuclear-propelled submarines. Morrison rejected the claim and said he was “not going to cop sledging of Australia”. » | Jon Henley in Paris | Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Crise des sous-marins : l'entourage de Macron en colère après la fuite d'un SMS au premier ministre australien : Le chef de l'État aurait envoyé : «Dois-je m'attendre à de bonnes ou de mauvaises nouvelles pour notre ambition conjointe sur les sous-marins ?» à Scott Morrison. »
