Hungary’s FM calls for talks with US on Paris climate accord

In respect of the Paris climate agreement, the international community should engage with the United States on obligations it may partially commit to instead of attacking the US for its decision to quit the accord, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

The international community must accept the US decision “as a given”, Péter Szijjártó told MTI by phone from Oulu ahead of a high-level European Union Arctic conference.

“Notwithstanding the torrent of criticism, the US president will not back down from his decision,” Szijjártó said. “We now have to approach the situation pragmatically and realistically, and ask ourselves how we can achieve the best possible result in connection with the Paris climate deal,” the minister added.

“Therefore we urge the international community to also take note of the second part of the US president’s reasoning behind quitting the agreement, namely that the US is pulling out of the accord but it is ready to renegotiate the obligations it imposes,” he said.

He argued that talks need to be started with the US on obligations they are willing to comply with because “it is far more preferable to have the US at least partially honour its existing commitments … than to have them quit the agreement altogether”.