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The ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris has served as a platform for the United States to smooth things over with its European partners after the strong transatlantic tensions caused by the Australian submarine crisis. Participation in the Paris meeting has allowed the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to continue the path of appeasement that should culminate at the end of this month with a face to face in Europe between Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden. In fact, the head of US diplomacy was received at the Elysee by Macron himself on Tuesday, in an appointment that was not initially scheduled.
But although the United States does not seem to save on efforts to restore bridges with its “oldest and closest ally”, as Blinken reiterated on Wednesday at a press conference at the OECD before leaving Paris, the caution with which France continues to express itself shows that The waters will still take time to return to their course, due to many gestures of rapprochement that Washington has sought these days with the French and other European partners, including Spain.
The main one was the “long head-to-head” between Macron and Blinken on Tuesday. The secretary of state had only scheduled meetings with Macron’s main diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, and with the foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian. Hence the expectation generated by his unexpected appointment with the French president and his interpretation as a clear sign that also Paris, which since the Australian submarine crisis broke out in mid-September has been begging for Washington, is interested in normalizing the situation.
After calling the ambassadors in Washington and Canberra for consultations on September 17, France decided to return its diplomatic representative to the United States on September 22, in a gesture to try to overcome the crisis. This Wednesday, he announced the return of his ambassador to Australia.
According to the Elysee, the meetings served to “study the ways to recover the bilateral relationship” and to “help restore confidence between France and the United States.” But asked if it is possible to talk about a restoration of confidence and if he believes that Biden now recognizes the importance of France as an ally, Macron, upon his arrival a few hours later in Slovenia, launched a skeptic “we will see”.
“I only believe in the facts. I hope so, it can be achieved. I think it’s more productive for both of us. But we will see, ”he told reporters upon his arrival at the EU-Balkan summit in Brdo (Slovenia). And according to the Elysee, in the Slovenian appointment there was also a high consensus on “the need to draw lessons from recent events (Afghanistan and Aukus, as the strategic alliance between the US, Australia and the United Kingdom is called that left France aside ), in particular for the European defense ”.
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According to French sources, the main European leaders, including the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the acting German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, or the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, “agree that they cannot act as if nothing had happened, in view of the recent episodes ”.
Perhaps that is why Blinken did not save on winks to Europe before leaving Paris.
“For the United States, it is vitally important that the European Union in general, and France in particular, be a strong and committed partner in the Indo-Pacific,” he declared and assured that Washington is also analyzing “practical forms of cooperation in the Sahel. “And” supports “Europe’s efforts to” enhance and increase defensive capabilities “beyond NATO.
“We will have to ask our friends, but for me, the conversations we have had in the last 24 hours have been very important, very positive and productive and reflect the important work underway (…) to deepen consultations, cooperation and coordination on various issues that make a difference for both French and US citizens ”, insisted Blinken from the OECD.
“Europe at this time has to reflect on its strategic autonomy and, obviously, the Europe of defense plays a fundamental role in this”, meanwhile analyzed the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who also celebrated this Wednesday his first face-to-face with Blinken, within the framework of the OECD appointment. “We have to have an agreement on what the role of Europe should be in the world, and that is indissoluble of what our defense should be, which is one of the things that Europe lacks in order to really give all its political dimension in the world. We have to decide in each region of the world, including the Indo-Pacific, what our role should be, “he added.
Washington continues to be an unavoidable crossing point because the United States “is our natural ally” and Europe must maintain a “high-level dialogue” with the transatlantic partner, stressed Albares, who during his stay in Paris has also met with the special envoy for Biden’s climate, John Kerry.
Despite the reluctance, the first OECD ministerial meeting in face-to-face format since the start of the coronavirus pandemic has multiplied the meetings. In addition to the French authorities and Albares himself, Blinken met his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, on Wednesday. The apparent reestablishment of normalcy comes with at least one lesson learned: “Sometimes we tend to take for granted a relationship as important and deep as the one between France and the United States,” Blinken acknowledged in an interview on the French television network France2. .
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