French Ambassador Calls Leak Of Macron's Text Message 'Unprecedented New Low' - Reports

(@FahadShabbir)

French Ambassador Calls Leak of Macron's Text Message 'Unprecedented New Low' - Reports

French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, said that the Australian government's leaking of private text messages between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Scott Morrison was an "unprecedented new low", media reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd November, 2021) French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, said that the Australian government's leaking of private text messages between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Scott Morrison was an "unprecedented new low", media reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Australian media published a private text message sent by Macron to Morrison two days before the AUKUS arrangement was announced. "Should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?" Macron reportedly asked in his message, purportedly leaked from the prime minister's office.

"You don't behave like this on personal exchanges of leaders who are allies. But maybe it is just confirmation that we were never seen as an ally," the ambassador said in his address to the National Press Club of Australia, as quoted by the Guardian.

Thebault added that "the deceit was international," according to the newspaper, noting that the international community would now carefully study Australia's actions before concluding new agreements with the country.

"But doing so also sends a very worrying signal for all heads of state - beware, in Australia, there will be leaks, and what you say in confidence to your partners will be eventually used and weaponized against you one day," Thebault reportedly said.

According to the Guardian, the ambassador also expressed doubts that the AUKUS nuclear submarines would arrive on time.

On September 15, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, together with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden, declared the formation of the new AUKUS defense and security partnership to protect the countries' shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

The first initiative announced under the AUKUS defense pact was the creation of nuclear-powered submarine technology for the Royal Australian Navy, so the Australian government decided to abandon the $66 billion agreement with France's Naval Group company for the construction of diesel-electric submarines, prompting an angry reaction from France, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accusing Canberra of betraying the mutual trust between the countries.