Pompeo canceled his visit to Europe at the last minute on Tuesday after Luxembourg’s foreign minister and key EU leaders refused to agree to receive U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Reuters reported that this was revealed by EU diplomats and officials familiar with handling Pompeo’s visit to Europe.
Pompeo was scheduled to meet with key EU leaders and the EU’s top official in charge of foreign affairs now in Brussels, and then go to Luxembourg to meet with Foreign Minister Arthur Bonn.
But problems with Pompeo’s travel plans first arose on the Luxembourg side. Luxembourg officials were unwilling to arrange any meetings for Pompeo. Luxembourg’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Pompeo’s visit was originally scheduled, but now it has been canceled. Luxembourg is not willing to explain why.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the EU is not arranging a meeting with Pompeo, and NATO is not arranging any public trip related to Pompeo. Pompeo was set to have a private dinner at NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg’s residence on Wednesday evening, followed by a meeting with NATO ally Belgium’s foreign minister. But those events were all canceled.
Pompeo is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Asselborn has called Trump a political fanatic and a criminal in the media since his supporters stormed the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, unleashing a riot that left five people dead, including police officers.
In explaining Pompeo’s cancellation of the European trip, the State Department did not mention details of the European side’s refusal to meet Pompeo, saying only that the trip was canceled to prepare for the handover before Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. But until recently Pompeo did not affirmatively state that he recognized Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
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