Paris: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Paris because Biden’s administration seeks to repair damage to the relationship caused by excluding the oldest allies in America from new Indo-Pacific security initiatives.
Blinken meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron’s National Security Advisors on Tuesday to try to restore trust between countries, especially because it is related to fighting the challenges that grow from China.
Biden’s administration has recognized that last month’s announcement of the Three-Waja Indo-Pacific Agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US known as the aukus was handled poorly.
But it also indicates the desire to redeem mistakes even when suggesting French anger is an excessive reaction.
France responded with anger on the announcement which also swung the multilibilion submarine contract owned by Australia, and briefly considered its ambassador to Washington and Canberra in the appearance of an unprecedented pique.
French officials call it stabbed behind allies and said it would need a lot of time and work to overcome.
France also said it underscores the need for Europe to develop its own security and defense plans.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Le Drian’s office reiterated that “crisis” involves more than France and is an exportion to the broader European Union where England is no longer a member.
The Foreign Ministry said it involved “the interests of all Europeans about the functioning of our alliances and the involvement of Europeans in the Indo-Pacific.” Blinken was in the French capital for the two-day international economic conference which had been overshadowed by the aukus controversy that erupted in September 15 announcements with the project announcement.
Ahead of his visit, the second to France, as the Secretary of State but first since he broke out, Blinken met Friday with French Ambassador Philippe Etienne on his Washington after returning to Paris by Macron.
Blinken, a fluent French speaker who grew and went to high school in Paris, has expressed disappointment that France has reacted hard against the aukus.
He and other people have suggested several levels of French anger related to French domestic politics and shift dynamics in the EU, who will soon see Angela Merkel depart as a German leader after 16 years in power.
Blinken’s visit followed the September telephone call between President Joe Biden and Macron, who had agreed to try to calm the problem and would meet in Europe later this month.
The reason for the Blinken trip to France, which has been well planned before the Aukus Ruckus, is to overcome the meeting of the minister of Paris-based organization for economic cooperation and development on Tuesday and Wednesday on climate change and security.
Former Secretary of State and the US climate envoy at this time John Kerry will also attend Paris talks, which will take place only a few weeks before the international conference U.N.
supported by the climate, in Glasgow, Scotland.