News / Politics / China / EU

US faces extraordinary humiliation as Europeans refuse to meet with Pompeo

Wednesday, 13 January 2021 6:39 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 January 2021 10:12 AM ]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

European leaders have refused to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, forcing him to cancel a trip to Europe, and the US envoy to the United Nations (UN) has also scrapped a trip to Taiwan, as the administration of US President Donald Trump faces extraordinary humiliation in its final days.

Pompeo had sought to meet Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, a wealthy NATO ally, before meeting EU leaders and the bloc’s top diplomat in Brussels, Reuters reported.

But the plan to go to Luxembourg was scrapped after officials there showed reluctance to grant Pompeo appointments.

And there were no meetings on Pompeo’s schedule with EU officials or any public events at NATO on a planned trip to Brussels.

One unnamed source told Reuters that allies in Europe were “embarrassed” by Pompeo following the storming of the US Capitol building by a mob of US President Donald Trump supporters last Wednesday that left five people dead.

Trump on Wednesday incited the mob to storm the US Capitol building as lawmakers were in the process of confirming the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign minister, called Trump a “criminal” and a “political pyromaniac” on RTL Radio the next day.

Top EU diplomat: US Capitol siege ‘wake-up call’ for democracies

Top EU diplomat warns that US Capitol siege was a ‘wake-up call’ for democracies.

However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed on Tuesday that all travel, including his visit to Europe and UN Ambassador Kelly Craft’s planned 3-day trip to Taiwan, had been canceled due to the transition of power to the incoming administration of Biden.

China had condemned Craft’s now-canceled plan to visit Taiwan, a self-ruled Chinese territory.