AUKUS

Australia said on Monday it had signed a deal to allow the exchange of nuclear secrets and material with the United States and Britain, a key step toward equipping its navy with nuclear-powered submarines.

It binds the three countries to security arrangements for the transfer of sensitive U.S. and U.K. nuclear material and knowhow as part of the tripartite 2021 AUKUS security accord.

Japan is expected to discuss cooperating on technology with the AUKUS defense grouping at a summit in Washington next month, according to comments from a high-ranking U.S. diplomat published in Japanese media on Friday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attacked the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron as a newspaper quoted a text message that suggested France anticipated "bad news" about a now-scuttled submarine deal.

Ljubljana/Brussels – EU leaders will gather in Brdo pri Kranju on Tuesday for a strategic debate on the EU’s international role in the light of developments in Afghanistan, the AUKUS security partnership and relations with China. On Wednesday, the Slovenian EU presidency will host an EU-Western Balkans summit, but no significant developments are expected.

By Panagiotis Ioakimidis*

The "Strategic Partnership" agreement signed by Greece and France is an important and positive development.

Yet, the distinct mutual assistance clause that it includes is wrong-headed (and indeed written in poor Greek with a term such as "armed violence" instead of "armed aggression").

The European Union and the United States will this week embark on a tricky effort to deepen ties on tech regulation, but with France resisting the project in the wake of a row with Washington over a submarine deal.