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Ursula von der Leyen: EU Commission President supports France after the submarine deal has burst

2021-09-20T17:06:40.382Z


A submarine deal between Australia and the United States angered France. Now EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has taken a clear position.


Enlarge image

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission

Photo: YVES HERMAN / POOL / EPA

France feels snubbed by the USA, Australia and Great Britain: At the end of last week, the three countries announced the establishment of a new security alliance for the Indo-Pacific called Aukus.

Not only does Paris see its interests in the region affected by this - Australia also broke a billion-dollar submarine deal with France and would now like to purchase American nuclear submarines.

(You can read about the background to the conflict here.)

In the dispute, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has now clearly stood on the side of France and criticized the treatment of the country by the Aukus members with clear words.

In an interview with the US television broadcaster CNN, when asked whether relations in the region would deteriorate, she replied: "There are many unanswered questions that need to be answered."

Johnson calls relations with France "indestructible"

"One of our member states was treated in a way that is unacceptable," said von der Leyen.

“We want to know what happened and why.

We have to clarify that first before we can continue as usual. "

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also commented on the subject on his US trip, according to Reuters news agency.

Britain's relationship with France was "indestructible," said Johnson when asked whether the new Aukus partnership had damaged relations with France.

"I think Britain and France have a very, very important and indestructible relationship," he said to reporters in New York.

"And of course we will talk to all of our friends about how the Aukus Pact works so that it does not exclude, divide and it really doesn't have to be like that."

On Friday evening, France called its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra back for consultations in an extraordinary diplomatic move between allies.

Canberra canceled its planned submarine deal with France shortly after the agreement was announced.

The contract for the delivery of twelve diesel-powered French submarines had a volume of 31 billion euros when it was signed in 2016 - there was talk of a "contract of the century".

muk / Reuters / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-09-20

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