Connect with us

America

Pompeo cancels last European trip, citing transition to new administration

Published

on

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a final trip to Europe a day after it was announced, citing the transition to a new administration as President Donald Trump’s term in office comes to a close.

The State Department had said on Tuesday that all travel would be cancelled this week and referred to its commitment to a smooth transition in the days leading to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

The department is expecting to soon receive a plan from Biden’s administration outlining which officials will remain in their posts on an acting basis until their replacements are confirmed by the Senate, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

“As a result, we are cancelling all planned travel this week, including the Secretary’s trip to Europe,” she said.

Pompeo had been due to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Belgium’s Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes, according to the State Department’s Monday announcement.

U.S. broadcaster CNN reported that the cancellation was linked to criticism from European government officials over the breach of the U.S. Capitol by rioters last week and Trump’s role in stoking violence.

According to sources cited by CNN, officials in Luxembourg had cancelled meetings with Pompeo before the trip was announced.

Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Trump a “political pyromaniac who must be put before a criminal court” in an interview with RTL last week.

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

Comments
NIGERIA DECIDES

NIGERIA DECIDES

Shell Digital Plan RESPONSIVE600x750
Shell Digital Plan RESPONSIVE600x750
GTB
JoinOurWhatsAppChannel