■ America’s new initiative with Australia and the U.K. has riled the EU.
French official: Biden move ‘stab in the back’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s decision to form a strategic Indo-pacific alliance with Australia and Britain to counter China is angering France and the European Union.
AUKUS, which notably excludes France and the European Union, is just the latest in a series of steps, from Afghanistan to east Asia, that have taken Europe aback.
After promising European leaders that “America is back” and that multilateral diplomacy would guide U.S. foreign policy, Biden has alienated numerous allies with a go-it-alone approach on key issues.
France’s foreign minister expressed “total incomprehension” at the recent move, which he called a “stab in the back,” and the EU’S foreign policy chief complained that Europe had not been consulted.
Since June, Biden has infuriated America’s oldest ally, France, left Poland and Ukraine questioning the U.S. commitment to their security and upset the European Union more broadly with unilateral decisions ranging from Afghanistan to east Asia.
The White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken say France had been informed of the decision before it was announced Wednesday, although it was not exactly clear when. Blinken said Thursday there had been conversations with the French about it within the past 24 to 48 hours, suggesting there had not been an indepth consultation.
French Foreign Minister Jeanyves Le Drian, who in June extolled the “excellent news for all of us that America is back,” expressed “total incomprehension” at the announcement of the initiative. “It was really a stab in the back,” he said. “It looks a lot like what (President Donald) Trump did.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed the comparison.
“I would say the president doesn’t think about it much,” she told reporters. “The president’s focus is on maintaining and continuing our close relationships with leaders in France, with the United Kingdom, with Australia and to achieving our global objectives, which include security in the Indo-pacific.”
France will lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel submarines for Australia under the terms of the new AUKUS initiative, which will see the U.S. and Britain help Canberra construct nuclear-powered ones.