Australia announced today, Thursday, its formal withdrawal from the purchase of submarines from France, and the launch of a security partnership with the United States and Britain.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that his country will not go ahead with the submarine deal with France, and instead will launch a security partnership, which he described as historic, with the United States and Britain, noting that his country will obtain, within the framework of this partnership, nuclear-powered submarines.

He explained during a video conference, with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that “the decision we have taken not to continue with the French submarine deal, and to go down a new path, is not a change of opinion, but a change of needs.”

The move comes after the leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia announced, on Wednesday, the establishment of a security partnership between the three countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including helping Australia obtain nuclear-powered submarines, in light of the growing Chinese influence in the region.

Australia signed an agreement with France in 2016, providing for the construction of 12 conventionally powered submarines, and the total cost of the programme, for which the French Naval Group was responsible, is 50 billion Australian dollars (31 billion euros).

(agencies)