Original Title: The U.S. State Department cancels all foreign visit plans this week, including U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo’s visit to Europe
According to a comprehensive report from Reuters and the BBC, the US State Department announced on the 12th Eastern Time that in order to ensure a “smooth transfer of power”, it would cancel all the State Department’s original visit plans for the next 8 days, including the European trip of US Secretary of State Pompeo. , And the itinerary of Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations, who was originally scheduled to visit Taiwan on the afternoon of the 13th.
The statement reads, “The transition between the State Department and the President-elect Biden team is progressing smoothly. We are fully committed to completing a smooth and orderly transition process within the next eight days. The Department of Public Information and the President-elect team have been fully involved for this purpose for several weeks. , We are satisfied with the level of cooperation and professionalism shown by these staff.”
Previously, US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Twitter on the 11th that Secretary of State Pompeo will travel to Brussels from January 13 to 14. This visit will discuss a series of global issues, including The importance of the new crown epidemic, transatlantic cooperation, and the’Belt and Road’ initiative.
Pompeo’s European trip was also his last foreign visit during his tenure. Regarding the reason for the cancellation of the trip, British media Reuters and the Daily Mail reported that this was because the Luxembourg Foreign Minister and senior EU officials refused to meet with him.
Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Pompeo originally planned to go to Luxembourg to meet with the country’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn before meeting with EU leaders and foreign ministers in Brussels.
According to a diplomatic source, the trip was cancelled because Luxembourg was unwilling to arrange for officials to meet with Pompeo. Pompeo’s Brussels trip was not cancelled until the last minute. The Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the cancellation of the visit, but declined to give more details.
(Edit: Zixuan)
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