The governments of France and Australia reached an agreement Monday to supply 155-caliber howitzers to Ukraine as part of the war against Russia, after a turbulent past few years in defense relations between the two countries.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu held a meeting in Paris with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles to establish a roadmap to strengthen cooperation between the two countries’ defense industries, as well as in the fight against climate change.
The howitzers will be jointly produced thanks to an agreement between France and Australia, the French Minister for the Armed Forces told a joint press conference with his Australian counterparts.
The move comes in the context of the rebuilding of bilateral ties between France and Australia following disputes arising from Canberra’s decision to suspend a multi-billion dollar deal for the acquisition of French submarines.
Relations between the two countries were strained after Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States reached an agreement in September 2021 that, among other points, authorized the oceanic country’s access to technology for the development of French submarines, setting aside the agreement that Canberra had with Paris for this purpose.
At the time, France called the decision of the then Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, «regrettable» and said it was like «a dagger in the back» as it broke the «agreement of the century» that France and Australia had reached.
Since May, French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have been trying to rebuild their countries’ relations, although France is still mindful of former Prime Minister Morrison’s «breach of trust».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
