The two leaders are trying to strengthen their ties following the Australian submarine crisis that put them badly. The White House confirmed the arrival of Kamala Harris in Paris in November.
Le Monde with AFP
This is another step towards the standardization of their relationships since the Australian submarine crisis. US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke on Friday, October 22, by telephone, continuing their efforts to smear their disputes. The White House confirmed the next trip to Paris from Vice President Kamala Harris.
The two leaders “discussed the necessary efforts to strengthen Europe of defense while guaranteeing a complementarity with NATO,” said a statement of the American executive, a subject that is particularly at heart to the French. .
Emmanuel Macron has indeed made the construction of a real European defense, a project that could grow nearly thirty years after its launch by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, a priority of the last six months of its mandate.
Other topics mentioned by the two leaders are the situation in the Sahel and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the White House.
The French authorities wish “a strengthening of American support for anti-terrorism operations conducted by European States in Sahel,” explained in early October a French diplomatic source at the France-Presse agency, on the occasion of the visit of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Paris.
A meeting between the two presidents scheduled at the end of October
Friday’s call precedes a meeting between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron who should take place at the G20 of Rome at the end of October and will be followed by the visit to Paris of Kamala Harris, confirmed by the White House and the Elysee.
The Vice-President of the United States will travel to France on 11 and 12 November, on the occasion of the Forum of Paris on Peace and the International Conference on Libya. It will be received by Emmanuel Macron.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Macron “will discuss the importance of the transatlantic relationship for peace and security around the world and will insist on the importance of our partnership for planetary challenges such as CVIV-19 and the crisis climate, “said the White House.
The call between the two leaders and the visit of Kamala Harris enroll in a phase of warming between Paris and Washington after the crisis caused by the mid-September announcement of a new alliance between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
This partnership baptized Aukus has raised a rare anger of France because he torpedo a megaContrrate of French submarines with the Australians.
A first phone call between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, a week later, had started a relaxation. The tenant of the White House then publicly had amends the method.
And the two heads of state had launched a “in-depth consultation process” to restore a hard-hit confidence between Paris and Washington.
The crisis of Australian submarines is indeed the most serious diplomatic crisis between these two historical allies since the French “no” Iraq war in 2003.
The case has also opened a debate in France, but also in other EU countries, on the need to accelerate towards greater European defense sovereignty to overcome the US umbrella .