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European Union leaders have joined with France in its anger over a multibillion-dollar submarine deal with Australia that was canceled when Canberra signed an Asia-Pacific trilateral security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.
The security pact, known as AUKUS, includes the sale of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and strained relations between Western countries ahead of the start of this week’s annual meeting of world leaders to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Speaking after the closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the assembly, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “more cooperation, more coordination, less fragmentation” was needed to achieve this. to a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region where China is the main rising power. .
The bloc’s foreign ministers “have expressed clear solidarity with France,” Borrell said.
“This announcement went against calls for greater cooperation with the European Union in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday accused the United States of treason and Australia of stabbing in the back.
Le Drian called on Europeans to “think” about alliances and accused the administration of US President Joe Biden of pursuing the “unilateralism, unpredictability, brutality and disrespect of his partner” of his predecessor Donald Trump .
The United States has sought to appease the anger of France, a NATO ally, and Biden is due to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone in the coming days.
“We are allies, we speak and do not hide different strategies developed. This is why there is a crisis of confidence, ”said Le Drian. “So all of this needs clarification and explanation. It can take time.
Australia signed the deal to buy French diesel-powered submarines in 2016. The deal was canceled when the AUKUS pact gave Australia access to US technology on nuclear-powered ships. .
France has been campaigning for several years for a European strategy to strengthen economic, political and defense links in the Indo-Pacific, which extends from India and China to Japan and New Zealand. The EU also announced its plan for the Indo-Pacific last week.
“America is back? “
Biden is due to address the UN on Tuesday and hoped to turn the page on Trump’s turbulent presidency and reassure traditional allies about a rising China.
China, which already has nuclear-powered submarines, condemned the pact, with President Xi Jinping on Friday warning against “interference from outside forces” in the region.
China claims Taiwan as its own, is embroiled in maritime disputes with Japan, and claims almost all of the South China Sea, where it has built man-made islands for military bases. He rejected competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam and criticized so-called “freedom of navigation” operations in the region by the US Navy.
European Council President Charles Michel said he was struggling to understand the decision by Australia, the UK and the US.
“Why? Because with the new administration of Joe Biden, America is back. That was the historic message sent by this new administration and now we have questions. What does that mean – America is back? Is America back in America or somewhere else? We don’t know, “he told reporters in New York.
“We observe a glaring lack of transparency and loyalty. “
U.S. officials said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, a French-speaking who grew up in Paris, sought to contain the fallout from the pact on Friday during a conversation with the French ambassador in Washington.
The ambassador was then recalled to Paris in protest. France has also recalled its senior diplomat to Canberra.
When asked if a bilateral meeting between Blinken and Le Drian would take place, senior State Department official Erica Barks-Ruggles said “the timetable will remain dynamic.”
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