Union Backs France As Submarine Deal Strains The Alliance

European Union leaders have rallied behind France in its anger over a multi-billion dollar submarine deal with Australia that was scuppered when Canberra signed up to a trilateral Asia Pacific security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.<br />The security pact includes the sale of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and has strained relations between western countries ahead of the start of this week’s annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly.<br />EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says more cooperation, more coordination, less fragmentation was needed to achieve a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region where China is the major rising power.<br />Borrell says the bloc’s foreign ministers expressed clear solidarity with France.