BORIS JOHNSON’s pioneering trilateral defence deal has left both the European Union and France looking weak in comparison with the “bigger, tougher” UK and US, a former British diplomat has said.
EU shamed by ‘bigger, tougher’ UK and US after Australia defence pact ‘Full marks Boris’
And Adrian Hill has hailed the agreement, whereby Australia will begin building nuclear submarines using technology supplied by the other two countries, as a masterstroke – stressing:
“The EU is no match for the United States.” Mr Hill was commenting after details were confirmed last week, with Australia pulling the plug on a $90billion dollar deal with France to build conventional submarines, much to the anger of both French President Emmanuel Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
France went so far as to recall its envoys from Australia and the US in protest but Mr Hill – a former officer in the Royal Engineers who among other diplomatic posts worked as a member of the Channel Tunnel team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the COBRA Committee of the Cabinet Office – suggested the reaction was largely the result of sour grapes.
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