“Start playing hardball”

“Syria, Nicaragua, and now the United States” – these are the countries that do not take part in the Paris Agreement, Bernhard Pötter writes in a commentary for the left-wing newspaper Tageszeitung (taz). These cases might be different but they share a common trait, he says. “Their leaderships disregard the law, are extremely short-sighted, and only care about furthering their own interests. And that’s the way they should be treated”, Pötter argues. Other states, first and foremost Germany, “need to start playing hardball” and sanction this “betrayal of trust”. The EU should remember “its diplomatic threat potential” and – just like with the sanctions on Russia – “temporarily withdraw its ambassador, support the opposition in the US politically and economically”, and “valorise insubordinate states like California”.

Read the commentary in German here.

See the CLEW article German reactions to US decision to withdraw from Paris Agreement for background.