For the first time since the Australian submarine case, the American and French presidents ended up in Rome, before the opening of the G20. Without apologizing, Joe Biden acknowledged “a lack of elegance” to Paris.
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At the height of the Aukus case, Emmanuel Macron had made Joe Biden waiting for seven days before talking to him on the phone. Friday, October 29 in Rome, the US president allowed an hour thirty late before finding his French counterpart in the hope of closing the brouche aroused by the announcement, mid-September, of the defense pact between the United States. United, Australia and the United Kingdom, secretly negotiated to the detriment of France.
Should we see a sign of progress in relations between the two men? Without apologizing, Joe Biden acknowledged, in a brief public exchange before their head-to-head, a way of “clumsy” and “a lack of elegance” to Paris from his partners. Multiply the sweet words, the Democrat said his “great affection” with regard to France, “the oldest ally of the United States … thanks to which we exist”. After handbounds, Mr. Macron remained more sober, calling to “turn to the future” and just talking about “the beginning of a trusted process”.
Everything had been done to round the angles between the two leaders. The meeting was preceded by intense plots in recent weeks with the administration Biden to defuse the black anger at Paris by the Alliance with three Anglo-Saxon, which has torpedo the sale of French submarines in Canberra for the benefit of American nuclear propulsion buildings. Failure to welcome Joe Biden in Paris, the tricolored diplomats had greatly insisted that the reunion took place in a “French hold” of the Italian capital, just before opening, Saturday, from the top of the G20.
European Defense
The appointment has thus been held in a more soothing setting: Villa Bonaparte, where the French Embassy is installed with the Vatican. The Palace of the XVII E Century, formerly property of the Bonaparte family, is surrounded by a pleasant garden. After a brief appearance in front of the press, Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden had a head-to-face in the “Great Gallery” of the Palace, and then a working meeting in the adjoining “dining room” in the presence of their ministers of foreign affairs and finances. The exchanges lasted 90 minutes. And have led to a long communiqué, more expanded than that of September 22, date of their first call after the dispute, but especially rich in declarations of principle.
There is of course question of the three major subjects sketched during preparatory consultations. First, the European Defense. “The United States recognizes the importance of a stronger and more operational European defense, which contributes positively to global and transatlantic safety and be complementary with NATO”, notes the text, before calling “to strengthen the strategic partnership between the EU [European Union] and NATO “.
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