EU backs France, India’s Modi vows to ‘act jointly’ with Macron in Indo-Pacific amid Aukus fallout

Germany’s Europe Minister says France’s diplomatic crisis is a ‘wake-up call’ for the EU to unite on foreign and security policy

Meanwhile, France and India say they will deepen partnership in the Indo-Pacific to promote ‘regional stability ... while ruling out any form of hegemony’

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French Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune, left, and Germany’s Minister of State for European Affairs Michael Roth. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 21 Sep 2021Updated: 9:57pm, 21 Sep 2021

Germany joined France on Tuesday in berating the United States for negotiating a security pact in secret with Australia and Britain that cost Paris a lucrative defence deal, while the EU’s top official said such behaviour was unacceptable.

Germany’s Europe Minister Michael Roth said France’s diplomatic crisis with the US was a “wake-up call for all of us” on the importance of uniting an often divided European Union on foreign and security policy.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who has developed close ties with US President Joe Biden’s administration, called the US government’s move “irritating”.

“I can understand our French friends’ anger,” Maas told reporters at the United Nations, where leaders were meeting for the General Assembly.

“What was decided, and the manner in which it was decided, was irritating and disappointing, and not only for France. What we’re seeing makes things much more complicated and I think it’s going to stay that way for a while,” he said.

In a concrete signal of the bloc’s outrage, EU ambassadors postponed preparations for an inaugural trade and technology council on September 29 with the US, a gathering that was trumpeted as a major advance in the transatlantic alliance.

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