Catherine Field: France Correspondent on the Middle East conflict, impact on the stock market, increased defence assets

The UK and France are sending more defence assets to the Middle East as the conflict's death toll ticks over 1700.  

Iran has appointed the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as its new Supreme Leader, signalling a defiance to the US and Israel.  

Many of the deaths so far have occurred within Iran and Lebanon, with Israel ramping up its strikes.   

French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will deploy 10 warships and an aircraft carrier to nearby waters as a defensive measure. 

France Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking that Macron is saying what most other European leaders are saying – they are there to protect their interests, assets, and citizens.  

She says they’re defending their assets and allies in the area, but they’re not getting involved in the wider conflict.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now in France, Catherine Field, very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Very ugly on the stock market, but I think from
what we're seeing this morning, it might settle a little
bit today. And yet G seven ministers have been meeting,
so it's all go.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It is a very volatile day on the stock markets.
You know, stock markets were down, but you're not done.
A lot of a bit across the board, less than
one percent, oil prices surging, oil still above one hundred
dollars a barrel. Yeah, we had the G seven Finance
minister's meeting, never meeting to discuss the possible release of

(00:33):
stockpiles of oil. Now, let's not forget that European Union
in particular obliges all its nations to have ninety days
emergency stocks of oil. There wasn't an idea that by
releasing these it would stabilize the market, but they decided
against that for the time being. So all eyes will
then be on here in parents on Tuesday, when there's

(00:56):
going to be again a meeting on the sidelines of
an energy conference that's going on here. G seven energy
minasis will be meeting to decide whether they're going to
again release those stockpiles, so you keep an eye on that.
One might because there is a lot of oil. The
Americans are really pressuring the Europeans to release those reserves

(01:18):
as we're starting to see prices at the pump really
edge up.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, I can't work out what you guys are more
worried about. I mean, obviously oil is an issue for
everyone around the world, but I think gases through the roof,
isn't it?

Speaker 2 (01:29):
It is going through the roof. But on the one hand,
we've had the Ukraine War for a long time going on,
and in the past the LNG France meticular is buying
that from the Russians, so they've resource now and they
buy a lot of that from the Norwegians, so it
is going up. But they're not as badly squeezed as

(01:50):
say when it comes to oil. When it comes to
looking at what's going through the Strait of hor moves.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
What's the vibe on Macron? Because I'm looking at Starmar
and he seems anep to me. But Macron's out He's
supposedly allegedly has been in Cypress or As and Cypress,
and he's out there. And then you've got some some
of your ships moving and he's talking about opening up
the straight up the moose with some military escorts. Is
he reading this well and this will play well for him?

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Oh, it will play enormously well for him. Let's not forget.
France has got probably the strongest and the only nuclear
armed military in Europe. So he's got a lot, He's
got a lot in the cupboard that could be used.
Just in the last couple of hours he has been
on board that French aircraft carrier then nuclear powered child

(02:34):
Gaul and of course that is in the East Mediterranean,
it is nearby to Crete. It is not just that
an aircraft carrier, as we all know, it is a
strike group which has also got other frigates alongside it.
Now in Spain has sent some frigates Italy and of
course the Dutch. What he's saying is, and it's pretty
much what all of the Europeans are saying, is that

(02:56):
they are just there to protect their interest, their assets,
to protect their citizens. I mean, if we look for
example at Emmanuel Macrar, he spoke yesterday with the Uranian
president and he said, look, we're not joining in with
Israel and America on this. We are at the sidelines.
We will defend our allies, we'll defend our assets in

(03:16):
the era, but we're not getting involved. So let's not forget.
France also has security arrangements with other areas that in
the goal of your golf states, and let's not forget.
He was in Cypress, which was your attack last week,
so he's saying that when it comes to straight upon this,
he was a little bit more pulling back a bit
on that. He was saying, only when everything settles down.

(03:39):
He wasn't saying, you know, we're going to go in
there next week, We're going to make sure that all
the oil gets flown out. He was very clear saying
it would be a European force and only once everything
comes down.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
I know, one shot down, another missile over into you know,
Eurozone territory of two because she is space over as
you're worried that this thing could spread geographically.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
It is is worried, not so much that you know
obviously of course Turkey and Native remember there is a
concern that everyone has to go and defend Turkey. What
they are concerned about are attacks here in Europe that
would be carried out by proxies for Iran. So Let's
just look at the last couple of days, US embassy
and Oslo, Norway was hit by an explosion. Police say

(04:21):
that's possible terror motive there. And then what early Monday
in the eastern Belgian city of Liege there was an
attack on a synagogue there. No one was injured or killed,
but of course you're seeing that and just wandering around
Paris today you do notice a lot more security. It's
not just transport, hubs and churches and synagogues, so you

(04:42):
just feel that everyone is there really wondering is there
going to be another attack here sometime soon.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
It's an edgy old world. Does not Casin appreciate it
very much.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
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