Australian defence minister to visit France, Germany, Britain to boost ties

Sydney: Australia’s defence minister said on Sunday he would work to deepen defence ties with France, Germany and Britain on a visit this week to the European partners, saying war in Ukraine has increased the importance of cooperation with likeminded nations.

The visit, from Aug. 29 to Sept 1, will be the first trip by Defence Minister Richard Marles to the countries since centre-left Labor took power in Australia after a general election in May.
Marles is set to meet with counterparts during the mission, which the government said was a chance to show Australia’s commitment to stronger European defence ties.

The France stop would help “restore and renew” their bilateral relationship, the government said, calling France one of Australia’s “oldest and most capable partners”. Australia in June reached a 555 million euro ($552.84 million) settlement with French military shipyard Naval Group over a decision last year to scrap a multi-billion dollar French submarine deal.

Canberra hoped the settlement would help repair a rift between the nations after the deal was ditched in favour of an agreement with the United States and Britain to build nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology under a new alliance dubbed AUKUS. This week’s trip would also see Marles participate in a roundtable with defence industry representatives in Germany, while in Britain he will visit shipyards, the government said.

“Our relationship with the United Kingdom is both historic and mutually beneficial, and is reflected through our continued commitment to AUKUS,” Marles said in a statement.

“My visit to Europe comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has shown the importance of increasing cooperation with likeminded partners, both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.”

The trip comes after Marles in June visited Japan to promote bilateral defence cooperation in a bid to counterbalance China’s growing military influence in Asia.

Ranjith Perera