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PARIS: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Paris on Saturday (November 14), at the beginning of a tour of seven countries in Europe and the Middle East, trips that are sure to be uncomfortable as all nations in His schedule have congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the US presidential race.
The trip is intended to shore up the priorities of the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump. It will include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been avoided by previous secretaries of state.
America’s top diplomat, as well as its president and much of his Republican Party, have not accepted the results of the Nov. 3 election, and unusual circumstances are likely to overshadow the problems.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday pointed to “difficult issues” on the table, from the situation in Iraq and Iran, to terrorism, the Middle East and China.
“At the moment my counterpart is Mike Pompeo, until January 20,” Le Drian said on BFMTV, referring to the date Trump’s term ends. Comes to Paris. I receive it. “
That meeting will take place on Monday, Le Drian said, and suggested that Pompeo also meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. Paris is in the middle of a lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
The French president, who spoke to Biden four days ago to congratulate him, has had a strained relationship with Trump. Both leaders initially worked to court each other with gestures of flamboyance, such as when Macron made Trump the guest of honor at a Bastille Day military parade.
Trump later pulled out of the Paris global climate accord, a blow to Macron.
The United States also abandoned the hard-won Iran nuclear deal, and Pompeo said in a tweet before leaving on his trip that “destabilizing behavior by Iran” would be among the topics for discussion.
In an arrival tweet in France on Saturday, Pompeo laid out the standard diplomatic bases for their talks in Paris, noting that France is America’s “oldest friend and ally.” “The strong relationship between our countries cannot be overestimated,” he tweeted.
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The promotion of religious freedom and the fight against terrorism were also among the topics on the table during his trip, he tweeted. Both questions are highly relevant for France.
There have been three terrorist attacks in recent weeks in France that have killed four people, linked to recently published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Protests against France spread to some Muslim countries after Macron insisted on his nation’s respect for freedom of expression, including the right to draw cartoons.
After France, Pompeo’s tour takes him to Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The leaders of all those countries have offered public congratulations to Biden.
In addition to France, Turkey, Georgia and Qatar have had conflicting relations with the Trump administration, and it was unclear whether Pompeo planned public engagements with their leaders, or whether he would answer questions from the press, with whom he has had a cold relationship.
The administration’s relations with Turkey have been particularly strained after the NATO ally’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system, and Pompeo’s stop in Istanbul next week will not include meetings with Turkish officials. Instead, Pompeo will meet with religious leaders to highlight their advocacy for religious freedom.
Palestinian officials, who have been snubbed by the Trump administration, have denounced Pompeo’s plans to visit the Psagot settlement in the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh tweeted on Friday that this was a “dangerous precedent” legalizing the settlements.
Consistent with Trump’s refusal to budge and orders for cabinet agencies not to cooperate with Biden’s transition team, the State Department has not been involved in facilitating Biden’s calls to foreign leaders, according to officials familiar with the process.
At a news conference Tuesday, Pompeo said he would continue as if there were no changes.
“I am the secretary of state,” he said. “I get calls from all over the world. These people are watching our election. They understand that we have a legal process. They understand that this takes time. “
However, his French counterpart Le Drian has been looking to the future, saying last Sunday in Cairo that “we will work with the new president of the United States and his team in the framework of the new transatlantic relations, we will need to return to – found this”.
