A top EU leader on Tuesday openly rebuked the United States for launching military action against Iran without consulting European allies, calling Washington an "unpredictable ally" and expressing deep frustration over the consequences for Europe's economy, security, and potential migration flows.
Speaking at Sciences Po in Paris, European Council President Antonio Costa delivered what many diplomats see as the sharpest public rebuke yet from Brussels.
"For the very first time, the United States launched a war in the Middle East, in our neighborhood, without any prior information to European allies or NATO," he said, openly airing mounting transatlantic tensions over the Iran conflict.
Costa warned that the conflict is already hitting Europe's economy hard. "We are paying, we are suffering," he said, citing energy price spikes, trade disruptions, and the broader financial impact on European households and governments.
He said the war's ripple effects could intensify if hostilities continue, warning of potential new humanitarian crises and migration pressures.
"If this war continues," he warned, it threatens "a new migration crisis."
Costa stressed that Europe cannot assume the US will act in coordination with allies: "We must be prepared to act alone … because perhaps to act alone means to act without our unpredictable ally."
While calling the US "a friend, a partner and an ally," Costa cautioned that Europeans "cannot be naive" about shifting American priorities. He criticized the US' new National Security Strategy, released last December, for treating Europe differently than in the past, framing Washington's approach as unilateral and unpredictable.
Calling the document "official doctrine from the United States," he stressed the need for Europe to adapt to a world where old assumptions about allied behavior no longer hold.
"The good way that allies behave? No, of course not," Costa said in response to university students' questions, drawing murmurs but signaling the severity of the rift. He stressed EU efforts to maintain cooperation with Washington through NATO contributions, trade negotiations, and joint support for Ukraine, but said these have not been matched in the current crisis.
Costa also linked the Iran war to a larger global problem: the erosion of international law. "The power of might is prevailing over the power of law," he said, citing both Tehran's missile strikes and Washington's unilateral military moves.
He reaffirmed Europe's position calling for maximum restraint, protection of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and respect for international law — all while preparing for the economic and humanitarian fallout.
The comments mark a rare, pointed public airing of grievances toward Washington from a senior EU official, highlighting the widening strategic gap between Europe and its most powerful traditional ally.
Costa used the moment to stress Europe's strategic autonomy, urging the EU to strengthen its defense, economic resilience, and preparedness for crises including migration, in a world where allies may act unpredictably.
