Flasbarth said Germany could host U.N. talks with more notice. “We would have no concerns whatsoever about hosting a conference, but it would have to be part of an orderly process and not a stopgap measure.”
The location of the talks rotates through five groups of countries. Turkey, Germany, the U.K. and Australia are all in the same group, which needs to arrive at a decision by consensus. Australia’s bid, which is being made in conjunction with Pacific island nations, has been publicly supported by Germany, France and the U.K.
Britain has found itself embroiled in the standoff because Turkish diplomats insist the U.K. promised to support their bid for the 2026 talks, known as COP31, in return for Turkey dropping its attempts to host the 2021 version, POLITICO earlier reported. The conference was held in Glasgow after Turkey abandoned its bid in return for several diplomatic favors.
“We would have to, but we do not want to,” said German State Secretary in the Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth on Monday. | Thierry Monasse/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Ankara insists Britain has broken its promise by backing the Australians. British diplomats insist the U.K. only ever agreed to consider the bid.
This week, German officials queried whether Britain could make a peace offering to Turkey that might convince them to allow Australia to host COP31 in the South Australian city of Adelaide.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offering to allow the Turks to host the section of the talks reserved for world leaders’ speeches, said the two people familiar with the discussions, who said Erdoğan had not responded.
