In Australia, the military Aukus agreement moves forward and concerns part of the population

Five years after the signing of the Aukus agreement, this security partnership linking Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States is beginning to take concrete form, according to Le Monde. Australia is preparing to host American and British nuclear-powered submarines on rotation in its territory, a step presented as a prerequisite for Canberra's acquisition of its own submarines.

This arrangement constitutes the first component of a long-term plan aimed at equipping the Australian navy with nuclear-powered submarines, in a context of increasing strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific region, Le Monde reports.

According to the same source, the implementation of this agreement is raising concerns among part of the Australian population. These concerns focus in particular on the implications of the presence of nuclear-powered submarines in close proximity to Australian territory, as well as on the diplomatic and security consequences of strengthened military alignment with Washington and London.

Le Monde does not specify in its excerpt the exact nature of the opposition expressed or the precise timeline for submarine installation. The article does, however, emphasize that this project, born in 2021, is now entering a phase of concrete implementation after five years of preparation.

The Aukus agreement had been presented, at the time of its signing, as a response to strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific region. Its advancement, described by Le Monde as gradual, illustrates according to the newspaper the willingness of the three partner countries to strengthen their long-term military cooperation.