New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a powerful signal to NATO allies, traveling to Brussels for Friday’s ministerial meeting just hours after being confirmed.
“I hopped straight on a plane and came straight here,” Pompeo told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “There’s good reason for that. The work that’s being done here today is invaluable and our objectives are important and this mission means a lot to the United States of America.”
Pompeo said U.S. President Donald Trump “very much wanted me to get here.”
Stoltenberg and other leaders in Brussels say they appreciated Pompeo’s quick action to attend Friday’s talks.
“I feel that that’s a great expression of the importance of the alliance and the importance we attach to the alliance and I very much look forward to talking with you, on the need to adapt NATO to a more demanding security environment,” the NATO secretary general told Pompeo.
Stoltenberg added: “Your valued and long experience will make you a perfect person to be the top diplomat of the United States.”
Analysts say Pompeo has good reason to hit the ground running, with increased tensions between NATO and Russia likely to top the agenda.
Pompeo and the other NATO foreign ministers will likely focus on how to counter Russian cyberattacks and other interference in Western democracies, as well as Moscow’s role in protecting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
In Brussels, the new U.S. secretary of state will also have the opportunity to fill in his counterparts on his meeting earlier this month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and his views on the prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula.
A pending decision by Trump on whether to certify continued American participation in the Iran nuclear deal will likely also be a focus, as well as an end to the violence in Afghanistan.
NATO foreign ministers Friday welcomed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s “decisive step toward Afghan reconciliation by proposing peace talks between the Government of National Unity and the Taliban, without preconditions.”
“NATO allies are united in their support for this proposal of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process,” they said in a statement. “We will respect and support a negotiated political settlement led by the Afghan government which ends violence, cuts ties to terrorism and protects the human rights of all Afghan citizens.”
International leaders and foreign policy experts will likely be closely observing Pompeo in his first weeks on the job to get a read on where the U.S. stands, as North Korea, Syria and Iran dominate headlines.
Pompeo is said to be more “hawkish” on the Iranian government than his predecessor, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who wanted the United States to stay in the Iran nuclear agreement.
Tillerson was abruptly fired by Trump last month just hours after returning from a trip to Africa. Trump said he and Pompeo are much more “on the same wavelength” on Iran and other issues.
During his confirmation hearing, a number of Democratic senators expressed concern that Pompeo is too close to Trump, and may not stand up to him when he disagrees on policy. Republican lawmakers noted Pompeo’s close relationship to Trump will be a great asset on the world stage.
New Secretary of State Pompeo heads to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan after Friday’s NATO meeting in Brussels.
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