Australia, EU pledge to ‘explore the potential’ for deeper ties amid ‘associate member’ murmurs

Anthony Albanese and the EU’s top-ranking officials have pledged to “explore the potential” for deeper ties amid talk of Australian becoming an “associate member” of the bloc. The Prime Minister met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the UN overnight. They canvassed a range of issues, according to a joint statement, from the free trade deal and security pact agreed this year to work on critical minerals and “actions to protect young people from dangers associated with social media”. Against a backdrop of global trade turmoil and conflicts…