Over 190 countries agree on global compact on safe…

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – More than 190 countries have agreed on a global compact to promote safe and orderly migration and reduce human smuggling and trafficking, culminating lengthy negotiations boycotted by the United States.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told diplomats after Friday’s agreement his government disagrees with key points and will discuss “the possibility of disassociation” from the compact at a meeting next Wednesday.

But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak and many other supporters hailed the first global document to tackle the migration issue. Mexico’s U.N. Ambassador Juan Gómez Camacho, co-facilitator of the negotiations, called it “a historic day” after decades of efforts.

The Global Compact for Safety, Orderly and Regular Migration is not legally binding and will be formally adopted at a ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, in December.

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