EU backs France in submarine dispute, asking: Is America back?
Gulf Times
European Union foreign ministers expressed support and solidarity with France on Monday during a meeting in New York to discuss Australia's scrapping of a $40 billion submarine order with Paris in favor of a U.S. and British deal.
Speaking after the closed-door meeting on the sidelines annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said "more cooperation, more coordination, less fragmentation" was needed to achieve a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region where China is the major rising power.
Australia said last week it would cancel an order for conventional submarines from France and instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and British technology after striking a security partnership with those countries under the name AUKUS.
"Certainly, we were caught by surprise by this announcement," Borrell said.
