AUKUS revenge against the French: Boris Johnson

ANTHONY KLAN

The AUKUS security deal, which saw Australia abandon its plan to buy French submarines, constitutes delicious revenge against Emmanuel Macron, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have claimed.

The Telegraph newspaper in London reports that Johnson, in his upcoming memoir, writes that French President Macron was a positive nuisance during Britain's efforts to leave the European Union.

He (Johnson) said he took his revenge by persuading Australia not to buy submarines from the French, The Telegraph writing.

He said he had managed to convince (US) President Biden to sign a secret defense deal with Australia at the G7 summit in Cornwall in 2021, which meant Canberra would have to withdraw from a deal purchase of submarines from the French, according to the newspaper. reports.

The newspaper quotes Johnson in his memoirs: When we later announced the AUKUS pact agreement, they all went, as expected, to Paris.

In complete secrecy, we succeeded,” Johnson reportedly wrote.

“When we later announced the AUKUS pact agreement, they all went to Paris as planned” Boris Johnson

Australia had planned to buy a fleet of diesel submarines from France, but in late 2021, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison withdrew from the deal, announcing AUKUS, a security partnership three-way between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Under the terms of the deal, Australia is to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the United States, but the proposal has attracted widespread criticism, particularly because of the proposed price and uncertainty over delivery times .

The total cost to Australia of entering into a French submarine deal was reportedly worth $3.4 billionincluding one $830 million penalty for canceling the transaction.

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Another British Express newspaper, report In the latest published excerpts from Johnson's upcoming book, “Unleashed,” Johnson details how he achieved “delicious revenge” against Macron.

“Mr Johnson explains how he saw an opportunity to take his 'delicious revenge' on the French at the G7 summit in Cornwall in 2021 by apparently hijacking their deal with Australia, which would have seen the Australians buy submarines advanced nuclear weapons to France,” writes the newspaper.

Johnson reportedly wrote:

“The difficulty was that a previous Australian Prime Minister had tasked the French with supplying the new generation submarines, but these were proving too noisy and too easy for an enemy to detect.”

“The new treaty would mean the breakdown of an extremely lucrative submarine deal for the French.

“It would go extremely badly with lysis. So the big question was: Would Joe Biden be willing to collaborate on a project, however beneficial it may ultimately be for America and the world, if it meant massively discouraging the French?

“My most important task at Carbis Bay was to organize a discreet three-way meeting with Biden, Australian Prime Minister Morrison and myself, unmolested by the French.

“When we later announced the AUKUS pact agreement, they all went to Paris as planned, but everything was in harmony that night at Carbis Bay.”

Since stepping down as British Prime Minister in 2022, Johnson has remained a staunch supporter of AUKUS.

“We need AUKUS more than ever and we must go further,” he said. said a hearing in Sydney in December last year.

We need more AUKUS because the threats are increasing, and they are increasing in this region. [and] the world as a whole is becoming a darker and more dangerous place,” he said at the Menzies Research Center’s annual John Howard Lecture.

Citing a Telegraph article, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke raised serious questions about the deal.

If nothing else raises serious questions about the AUKUS military partnership, then these revelations from Boris Johnson about its genesis should do so, Clarke posted on social media this afternoon.

It's hard to imagine any reason why New Zealand should get involved in something so dubious in the first place.

It's hard to imagine a reason why New Zealand should associate itself with something so questionable in the first place Helen Clarke

Johnson suggested that Macron had punished Britain by allowing refugee boats to leave France for Britain, in exchange for Britain leaving the EU, writes The Telegraph.

Although Macron was personally charming and although we often agreed on important issues, he really meant it when he said that Britain should be punished for Brexit, Johnson said. would have written.

On some points I fear I suspected him of being a positive nuisance.

Take the small boats that cross the Channel to Britain from French beaches, risking the lives of tens of thousands of migrants.

It seemed to me at least possible that he would weaponize the issue, Belarus-style, and quietly allow migrants to come in sufficient numbers to drive the British public crazy and undermine one of the most important Brexit facts that we had removed. control of our borders.

(Macron) would not hesitate to put on his Cuban heel boots in the British Brexit Boris Johnson

The Telegraph reports that Johnson writes that he and Macron personally hit it off, but that Macron would not hesitate to put his Cuban-heeled boots into Britain's Brexit.

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