Sacre bleu, the French have thrown their toys out of the pram.
Why?
Well, because the Australians have cancelled a submarine contract worth an estimated 60 billion euros.
Such a loss would be a heavy blow for any nation, but the French bear some responsibility.
Their submarines were late, costs were soaring and the diesel design would be virtually obsolete on delivery.
What rankles France most, I suspect, is that Australia has instead agreed to buy American nuclear submarines, signing a joint co-operation pact – known as AUKUS - with the US and us.
Clearly, such a deal was not done to undermine France intentionally, but to protect the Indo Pacific from Chinese territorial ambitions.
And, if we are to do that, we need an ally with state-of-the art submarines, which are faster, can go deeper and remain under water longer.
It’s fair to say that trust is at a low with the EU at present, which is now, unbelievably, mooting a European army.
To achieve this, President Macron has offered to put France’s coveted seat on the UN Security Council ‘at the disposal’ of the EU.
It’s all part of Mr Macron’s ambition for a military force, with its own strategic priorities, after he described NATO in 2019 as ‘brain dead’.
However, with few of his fellow EU members spending the required minimum on defence, his plan will only undermine NATO’s integrity further.
We live in dangerous times, and there’s no reason why three allies, who already share a sophisticated intelligence network, cannot build warships together.
It’s strange behaviour from a French president, who accuses Britain of being untrustworthy, while compromising NATO and the UN.
Further confirmation, perhaps, that leaving the EU was the right decision.