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France has invited Anthony Albanese to mark its national day in Paris, giving him a chance to talk through Iran war shocks with President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders.
NewsWire understands the Prime Minister was formally invited to Bastille Day on Thursday afternoon.
A government source speaking on condition of anonymity said a decision to accept the July 14 invite had not yet been reached.
The invite came as Canberra and Paris move to deepen ties amid global turmoil, with conflicts raging on multiple continents and major powers flaunting trade rules and norms.
Mr Macron has sought to position France as a leader among middle powers in a world where traditional alliances with the US are tested by an unpredictable Trump White House.
He said last month that the EU faced “a unique moment where a US president, a Russian president, a Chinese president are dead against the Europeans”, calling it “the right moment for us to wake up”.
In those remarks, he said he expected US President Donald Trump’s America first agenda to outlast the current administration in Washington.
“We can engage with the US on some issues, and [that] still makes a lot of sense because of the common values and historical bonds, but I really believe that this US approach will last,” Mr Macron said.
Part of his efforts to uphold France’s role as an architect for international rules have included directing ministers to step up co-operation with Australia in the Indo-Pacific, from defence and security to critical minerals and scientific research.
As a country with island territories across the Indo-Pacific, France has skin in the regional contest with China and sends hundreds of troops to war games, including Australia’s annual Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Mr Albanese has in-turn taken part in French and UK-led peacekeeping talks for post-war Ukraine, as well as separate Anglo-Franco plans to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
He said earlier this month that Australia was facing a “volatile world” and warned of “a breakdown in the system of norms that we could take for granted”.
“We have a land war in Europe that’s been going on for years now with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have conflict in the Middle East – that is having an impact right around the world, even though we are not protagonists in that war,” Mr Albanese said.
However, he also said that countries such as Australia and France were shaping a new world.
“What you see is shoots of what the world will look like going forward,” Mr Albanese said.
“You see more co-operation between the non-superpowers … of China and the United States, than ever before.”
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