United States: what Pompeo’s visit to Europe left

Listen this article

 

Last week, the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, toured several European countries in favor of the recovery of sovereignty

During 5 days, Mike Pompeo toured several countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Brussels, Iceland, and through a statement announced that the main objective of his visit was "to increase the diplomatic, commercial, military and cultural commitment of the United States through the continent, especially in Central Europe", as stated by Europa Press.

Leer en español: Estados Unidos: ¿qué dejó la visita de Pompeo por Europa?

It took about 8 years for a visit from the US Secretary of State to some countries in the region, as in the case of Hungary, where Pompeo asked not to support the route of the Turk Stream gas pipeline that drives the Kremlin, to avoid transit through Ukraine, according to EuroNews.

As outlined by LatinAmerican Post, it is a crisis between Ukraine and Russia because of the controversial Crimean Peninsula, which not only ended with a Friendship Treaty but Russia, with the construction of pipelines that transport gas for the rest of Europe, plans to isolate Ukraine from the important gas route.

Faced with this, Pompeo stressed the importance of "not allowing Putin to open a gap between our friends and NATO. The Hungarians know very well from history that Russia will never be a friend of the freedom and sovereignty of small nations", according to EuroNews. Similarly, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stressed the importance of his country as a military and defense ally with the United States.

Maybe you're interested in reading: Russia: What's behind the protests?

During his visit to Slovakia, Pompeo came with a clear message that "post-communist countries are especially vulnerable to predatory investment and political interference by China and Russia", according to El Economista. However, the arrival of Pompeo caused annoyance in the Slovaks, who with placards manifested their discontent with the US government. The posters read "Hands out from Venezuela" and "Stop the US Army", according to Hispan TV.

Once again, he repeated his desire to be more part of the region, because 14 years had to pass before a secretary of state visited the country, through defense cooperation agreements and exchange programs, as indicated by El Economista.

On his way through Poland, Pompeo rescued the Polish position against the reduction of dependence on gas brought by the Russian gas pipelines. Similarly, according to El Nuevo Diario, within the discussions with the Polish Secretary of State, Jacek Czaputowicz, the possibility of installing several US military bases was mentioned only if Poland agrees to reduce its cooperation with Iran and China.

In Brussels, Pompeo and the High Representative of Policy and Common Security of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, discussed the Venezuelan situation, where both agreed on the need for elections in the Latin American country with the desire to "See an end to the crisis in Venezuela that brings about the return of the constitutional order and we believe that the best way to work towards advanced presidential elections", as reported by NotiAmérica.

Finally, at his last stop in Iceland, Pompeo stressed the importance of strengthening relations with that country, which is a member of NATO. In this way, Minister Gudlaugur Thordarson affirmed that "there is still an unrealized potential in trade and our commercial relationship (…) we are very excited to take this important step and we should try to do it as quickly as possible", according to Voa News.

Will he be able to influence Eastern Europe?

With his repetitive speech, it is clear that the US government is desperate to regain control of the area. The political analyst Javier Martinez in dialogue with RT, states that "The United States does not support free competition with other states".

The United States will do everything possible to intervene in the Russian and Chinese expansion, but for the time being a concrete and clear action will not be able to be observed. There were many years in which the North American country wasn't present, while Russia and China have helped to meet the needs of those countries all these years.

This is the case with millionaire investment contracts; to supply gas to the majority of Europe, and, in the Chinese case, to seize the technology industry with the important Huawei brand, a company with which Pompeo said that if present, it could complicate the relationship with the United States. The Secretary of State and "his Western allies believe that Huawei's equipment could be used for espionage and see its expansion in Central Europe as a way to gain a foothold in the EU market," as Infobae reports.

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz

Translated from "Estados Unidos: ¿qué dejó la visita de Pompeo por Europa?"