Pompeo was scheduled to fly to Brussels on 13 January to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Belgian Foreign Minister Sophia Wilmes.
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The visit was announced on Monday, less than 18 hours later, but the US State Department said that all foreign trips of US officials were canceled this week. “We are fully committed to completing a smooth handover of power over the next eight days,” ministry spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement of reasons.
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Biden’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20. Given last week’s unrest in the Chapter, there are fears that violence could accompany it. On Wednesday, Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building, where members of the House of Representatives and Senate confirmed the results of the November presidential election. The outgoing head of the White House claims that the elections were rigged, and he raged his constituents to unrest at meetings and social networks. As a result of chaos, five people died in the invasion of rioters into Congress.
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Referring to three sources, Reuters reported that Pompeo originally wanted to meet with Luxembourg’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn and senior European Union officials in Europe, but refused to meet with the US chief of staff after attacking the Capitol. Neither the EU nor the US State Department wanted to comment on this claim.
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