French President Emmanuel Macron (left) with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 23. (GAO JING / XINHUA)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described as “unacceptable” the way France was treated by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States in their newly established security partnership AUKUS.

The European Commission chief expressed her dismay during an interview with CNN, in which she demanded explanations from US President Joe Biden.

“There are a lot of open questions that have to be answered,” von der Leyen said. “One of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable, so we want to know what happened and why. And therefore you first clarify that before you keep going with business as usual.”

During a virtual event on Sept 15, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the creation of AUKUS, a new trilateral security partnership.

The first initiative under AUKUS will be delivering a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia, which intends to build the submarines in Adelaide, a coastal city in the country’s south, in cooperation with Britain and the US, Morrison said.

In a statement on Sept 17, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian announced: “At the request of the President of the Republic, I decided to immediately recall to Paris for consultations our two ambassadors in the United States and Australia. This exceptional decision is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements made on Sept 15 by Australia and the United States.”

Speaking on the France 2 television on Sept 18, Le Drian said the withdrawal of the ambassadors, for the first time in France’s history vis-a-vis the two countries, was a “very symbolic” act reflecting “a grave crisis between us”. “There has been lying, duplicity, a major breach of trust and contempt,” he said, adding the consequences could impact strategic relations within NATO.

After a phone talk between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sept 23, France agreed to send its ambassador back to Washington and the two leaders planned to meet in Europe at the end of October.

European Council President Charles Michel also expressed concerns about the AUKUS agreement, demanding an explanation from Biden on why he misled France and other European partners in forging the new strategic agreement in the Indo-Pacific.

He took to social media to say: “The AUKUS security partnership further demonstrates the need for a common EU approach in a region of strategic interest. A strong EU Indo-Pacific strategy is needed more than ever.”

He then told reporters at the UN General Assembly: “With the new Joe Biden administration, America is back.” This was interpreted as questioning whether the US had returned to the international table.

“What does it mean America is back? Is America back in America or elsewhere? We do not know,” he added.

Michel told journalists at the UN on Sept 20 that the US had demonstrated “lack of loyalty” after Australia cancelled the multi-billion-dollar deal with France on nuclear-powered submarines which it will now obtain from the US and Britain.

He added that the Europeans need clarifications on this deal and would step up efforts to build their own defensive capabilities.

The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell weighed in on the alliance during a press conference in New York following an informal EU Foreign Ministers’ meeting. He said the ministers expressed clear solidarity with France.

Borrell said he also met with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne in a planned meeting during which he inquired about the reasons behind the lack of prior consultation on AUKUS.

EU foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the fallout. Germany’s European Affairs Minister Michael Roth called the row a “wake-up call” for the bloc. “We cannot exclusively rely on others but must cooperate,” he told reporters in Brussels.

Le Drian of France said in New York on Sept 21 that all EU countries should be worried about the contempt the US has shown to its allies.

Le Drian called the US-UK-Australian move a “stab in the back”. “We had established a relationship of trust with Australia. This trust has been betrayed,” he said on Sept 16.

Julian Shea in London contributed to this story.