mike pompeo cancel european trip
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Darko Bandic/AFP via Getty Images
  • The final European trip for US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scrapped on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
  • Starting with Luxembourg Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Asselborn, a series of diplomats snubbed Pompeo, according to a Reuters report.
  • One diplomatic source told Reuters that the allies were “embarrassed” by the deadly Capitol Siege last week.
  • The State Department said the trip was cancelled because of preparation efforts ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not go on his final diplomatic trip to Europe as previously planned.

Pompeo was forced to cancel the trip on Tuesday after Luxembourg’s foreign minister and European Union officials refused to meet with him, according to Reuters.

The jaunt was set to begin in Luxembourg, the small yet financially powerful nation land locked between Belgium, Germany and France. However, officials in Luxembourg “showed reluctance to grant him appointments,” according to Reuters.

A diplomatic source told Reuters that allies would have been “embarrassed” to meet with Pompeo after last week’s deadly attempted coup on Capitol Hill.

Luxembourg Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Asselborn, who was the first to reportedly snub Pompeo, called President Donald Trump a “criminal” and a “political pyromaniac who should be sent to criminal court” during an interview on the French radio station RTL on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection.

 

Pompeo will also miss out on a private dinner with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg scheduled for Wednesday evening. Another snub reported by Reuters is Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes, who was slated to meet with Pompeo after his dinner with the NATO secretary-general.

In a statement to Reuters, the State Department offered a different reason for the trip's cancellation, citing transition work for when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. 

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