Politico: US diplomats threatened European officials over green shipping rules

U.S. diplomats reportedly threatened their European counterparts with “personal consequences” while defending Washington’s national interests during tense negotiations over “green shipping” regulations, POLITICO reported, citing diplomatic sources.

“European negotiators were personally targeted by their American counterparts during a brutal negotiation over green shipping rules, European Commission officials told POLITICO — a highly unusual gambit that left diplomats shaken after the meeting,” the publication said.

According to the newspaper, the threats were made in October when the United States attempted to block a new initiative to impose a pollution tax on ships at a session of the International Maritime Organization in London.

The article notes that some EU diplomats were “threatened with personal consequences” if they opposed Washington.

Sources told Politico that diplomats returned home “rattled after the meetings.”

“We had feedback from a number of people involved in the negotiations about the pressure they faced,” one of the publication’s sources said.

By Vugar Khalilov