Maintaining West’s unity will ‘require a lot of effort’, German official says, as France rages over nuclear submarine deal
Maintaining unity between Western allies will “require a lot of effort” in light of an unfolding rift between France and members of a new security partnership, Germany’s ambassador to the UK has said.
Andreas Michaelis was responding to France recalling its ambassadors to the US and Australia, after the latter’s government ditched a multi-billion dollar deal with Paris for new nuclear submarines and decided to instead buy ones made with US technology.
The response to the cancelled agreement – resulting from something that has been dubbed the AUKUS partnership, between Australia, the UK, and US – has been described by Sky’s security and defence editor Deborah Haynes as “one of the gravest rifts among allies in living memory”.
It comes as Germany’s long-standing chancellor, Angela Merkel, is due to be replaced next weekend by whoever wins federal elections.
Mr Michaelis, referencing Deborah Haynes’ Sky News analysis, said on Twitter: “The new German government to be elected on 26/9 will be faced with important strategic discussions.
“The AUKUS debate illustrates this vividly. Germany has always aimed for coherence&unity [sic] of the West. It became part of our DNA during the Cold War. This unity will require a lot of effort.”
The decision to pull out its representative in the US, outlined last night by foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on the orders of President Emmanuel Macron, was the first time France has ever recalled its American ambassador.
He said the cancellation by Australia of the big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favour of nuclear-powered subs built with US technology was “unacceptable behaviour”.
It means France loses a nearly $100bn Australian dollars (£47bn) deal to build diesel-electric submarines.
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‘AUKUS alliance will bring us closer than ever’
Australia said on Saturday morning it regretted that France was recalling its ambassador, adding that it valued the relationship with France and would keep engaging with Paris on other issues.
A US State Department spokesperson said France was a “vital ally” and the United States would be engaged in the coming days to resolve the differences.
A French foreign ministry statement did not mention the UK, but a diplomatic source said France believed Britain’s joining of the deal was opportunistic.
After what is believed to be her first call to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the UK’s new foreign secretary, Liz Truss didn’t specifically mention the escalating row in a tweet discussing what the pair talked about.
She did say however that they had both welcomed their “new AUKUS partnership” and talked about future efforts “to deepen… security partnerships with our allies”.
The AUKUS partnership is part of a new strategic Indo-Pacific alliance between the US, Australia and Britain, US President Joe Biden announced last week.
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French President Emmanuel Macron has so far not commented directly, but on Friday a top French diplomat spoke anonymously of a “crisis” in relations with the US.
He said that for Paris “this is a strategic question concerning the very nature of the relationship between Europe and the United States about the Indo-Pacific strategy”.
He added that Australia never mentioned to France its wish to shift to nuclear-powered submarines, including during a meeting between Mr Macron and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The French diplomat said that Mr Macron received a letter from Mr Morrison on Wednesday morning announcing the decision to cancel the submarine deal.
Emmanuel Macron with Boris Johnson and (below) Joe Biden during the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this year
After the deal was announced, Mr Le Drian told franceinfo radio it was a “brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision” reminiscent of the sort of actions Donald Trump would take.
He said: “I am angry and bitter. This isn’t done between allies. It’s a stab in the back. We created a relationship of trust with Australia, and that trust has been broken.”
The “landmark” UK, US and Australia partnership aims to boost defences and share nuclear submarine secrets at a time of growing concern over China.
China has condemned the agreement, saying the Western powers’ cooperation in nuclear submarines “severely damages regional peace and stability” and “jeopardises the international efforts in promoting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons”.
London, Canberra and Washington have said they will seek to collaborate in cyber, quantum technologies and artificial intelligence, as well as other underwater capabilities.
World
Amsterdam: Police break up pro-Palestinian protest after ‘antisemitic’ violence following football game
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been taken away by police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam following “antisemitic” violence in the wake of a football game.
Hundreds of people had defied an order banning protests and gathered in the city’s Dam Square on Sunday, chanting “Amsterdam says no to genocide” and “free Palestine”.
A three-day ban on demonstrations was brought in on Friday, following violence that erupted on Thursday after a Europa League game between Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and local side Ajax.
The ban was later extended for four more days until next Thursday.
Explained: What we know about violence in Amsterdam
Police crouched over a man during the pro-Palestinian protest. Pic: Reuters
Hundreds of people defied the order and gathered in Amsterdam. Pic: Reuters
The aftermath of the football game was marred by violence that the mayor of the Dutch city and the country’s prime minister described as antisemitic.
At a hearing challenging the protest ban, a senior police officer said it was still needed as people thought to be Jewish were targeted on Saturday night, with some being ordered out of taxis and others asked to produce their passports.
A local court ratified the ban and the people who were rounded up were put on buses and dropped off on the outskirts of the city, police spokesperson Ramona van den Ochtend said, without confirming how many had been detained.
One protester was taken to an ambulance bleeding.
After the initial violence, five people were treated in hospital and more than 60 were held by police.
The attacks followed a Palestinian flag being torn down in the Dutch city, and another being set on fire, before Maccabi Tel Aviv fans shouted anti-Arab chants as they were escorted to the game.
The initial attacks on Israeli fans were carried out by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “hit-and-run squads”.
Prosecutors said that four suspects remained detained, including two minors, and 40 people have been fined.
Police broke up the pro-Palestinian protest in Dam Square. Pic: Reuters
Dutch police detain a pro-Palestinian protester during the banned demonstration. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
A night that ‘defied description’
Tensions began to build the day before the match when some of the 3,000 visiting Maccabi supporters had minor altercations with locals, including taxi drivers and Ajax supporters, police said.
According to officers, on Wednesday a Palestinian flag was set on fire in Dam Square, and another was pulled down from a nearby building as a taxi was also vandalised.
On game day, the Maccabi supporters chanted anti-Arab slogans including “Let the IDF win, and f*** the Arabs,” as they were escorted by police to the stadium.
A planned pro-Palestinian demonstration on Thursday was moved away from the ground to Anton de Komplein square, in an attempt to prevent any clashes, but after the game on Thursday night violence spread in the city.
Attacks broke out and police rounded up and escorted some Maccabi fans back to their hotels.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the violence as “antisemitic” and said it “defied description”.
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A video which was circulated on social media showed a man being chased through the street with the caption “watch and enjoy six Zionists chased away. Free Palestine”.
A statement by Amsterdam police and prosecutors said Thursday evening “was very turbulent, with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters”.
They added: “There is no excuse for the antisemitic behaviour exhibited last night [Thursday] by rioters who actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them.”
World
Mackenzie Michalski: Irish man allegedly admits killing US nurse at Budapest flat and dumping body near lake, say police
An Irish man is suspected of killing a 31-year-old US nurse during an “intimate encounter” at his Budapest flat before dumping her body in woodland, according to police.
Hungarian police said Mackenzie Michalski, from Portland in the US state of Oregon, was killed after meeting the 37-year-old man at a nightclub while she was on holiday in the city.
Officers identified the suspect by the initials LTM and said he cleaned up his rented apartment in the Hungarian capital and put Ms Michalski’s body in a wardrobe and then into a suitcase.
He allegedly rented a car and drove 90 miles (150km) to Lake Balaton, where he is said to have disposed of the body in a wooded area near the village of Szigliget.
Police video showed the suspect guiding them to where he left the body.
Officers said he also searched online for how to dispose of a body, and about the competence of Budapest police. Police said he also conducted online searches about procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs eat dead bodies, and if there are wild boars around Lake Balaton.
He was arrested on 7 November but claimed the killing was an accident, police said.
Ms Michalski had been reported missing two days before, and the suspect was identified after CCTV showed the pair together at a nightclub, where police said they danced and left for his flat.
Pic: Facebook/Find Mackenzie Michalski
Crime scene photos show a rolling suitcase, items of clothing and a handbag next to a credit card with Ms Michalski’s name on it.
The victim’s family flew to Hungary to help find her, but on the way found out she had been killed.
“There was no reason for this to happen,” her father Bill Michalski said at a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night.
“I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened… I don’t know that I ever will.”
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Friends attended a candlelight memorial in the city on Saturday. Pic: AP
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Wearing a cap she had given him, Mr Michalski said his daughter had been to Budapest before and called it her “happy place”.
“The history… she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,” he said.
A Facebook group set up last week to find Ms Michalski said she was known as “Kenzie” and worked as a nurse.
It said she would “forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman”.
Tributes have been paid to a “brave” 22-year-old British man who was killed while fighting in Ukraine.
Callum Tindal-Draper, from Gunnislake, Cornwall, died while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon in the country’s struggle against Russia.
It is believed he was defending an observation point when he was killed on 5 November.
Callum Tindal-Draper. Pic: Handout
Callum’s mother Caroline Tindal said in a post on Facebook that “he fought till he could no longer hold them off any more”.
“His platoon are calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘as brave as they come’,” she said.
“22 is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals.
“May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.”
Mr Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy College, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.
In a tribute on Facebook, the college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a “model student” with a “strong moral compass”.
“He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn,” the post said.
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“He was very proud of his family history in the services,” the post added.
“He was well-liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.”
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The post said Mr Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK.”
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