France sells warships to Greece and sends message to Washington and Ankara
The announcement of the historic AUKUS deal has not gone down well in France. Following the triple alliance between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, Macron's government has seen the Paris agreement with Canberra for the sale of submarine propulsion systems worth more than 50 billion euros go up in smoke. France has been quick to respond and has done so forcefully. Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance, said that "our European partners must open their eyes" because, according to him, "we can no longer count on the United States to guarantee our strategic protection". That is why the French have already launched a new strategic plan.
Just ten days after the AUKUS announcement, Emmanuel Macron's government has already reached an agreement with Greece for the sale of three frigates as part of a "strategic partnership". This new move carries a double message to the Americans and Turks. On the one hand, it partly offsets the losses caused by the breakdown of the deal that was to have brought large profits to the French firm, Naval Group. On the other, they are taking a step forward in Mediterranean security by supporting Greece at a time when the situation with Turkey is becoming increasingly tense.
The signing of this alliance 'contributes to European security and to the strengthening of Europe's strategic independence and sovereignty, and therefore to international peace and security', the French president said. An agreement that marks the path of what could be France's new strategy, avoiding relying on the United States in European security matters. The days of years of dependence on the Americans may be numbered, or at least that is the intention of a Paris that is still very hurt by what it described as "a stab in the back".
Another factor favouring this desire for "independence" from the United States is the "brain death" that NATO is suffering, according to Macron himself. Greece's move has been seen as an important 'confidence indicator' in the French defence industry compared to the rest, as well as a strengthening of Mediterranean defence policies. Indeed, some observers point out that this move may be more related to Turkey's actions towards Greece, pointing to oil and gas exploitation, than to the urgency that may exist in France following the breakdown of the agreement with Australia.
"The Mediterranean should not be a playground for the ambitions of some, it is common property," notes Florence Parly, France's armed forces minister, on her Twitter account. She added that "respect for international law should be the rule, not the exception". These words, along with the deployment of warships and fighter jets in the region, are a clear sign that, beyond the agreement on ships, France is a real support for Greece.
It also sends a message to countries such as the UK and Germany that remain impartial in the dispute between Turks and Greeks over the sharing of Mediterranean waters. Not to mention the inoperative and internationally irrelevant European Union, which still does not know which way the wind is blowing. Josep Borrell himself, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, assured that he had "not been aware of it", referring to AUKUS, although he imagines that "the nature of this agreement was not cooked up before yesterday".
For its part, Turkey has not taken this news well. Back in January, when France and Greece reached an agreement on the sale of 18 Rafale aircraft worth 2.5 billion euros, Erdogan's government expressed its displeasure that the deal was an arms programme as a result of his country's tensions with the Greeks. Since then, the situation in the Mediterranean has continued to grow more complex, something that could further increase the arrival of French forces in the region.