Pompeo kicks off 'farewell tour' in Paris

The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, visited Paris on Monday on the first stop of an international tour taking place amid the White House’s refusal to accept the results of the November 3 US presidential elections, which Democrat Joe Biden won, reported EFE-EPA.

Pompeo’s trip, which will see him make stops in France, Turkey and Israel, is being widely seen as a farewell tour by observers in Europe and the Middle East, despite Donald Trump’s rejection of the poll and his refusal to formally concede the race to his rival.

Lawyers representing the president and the Republican Party have filed several lawsuits in various battleground states contesting the results of the elections, although some of those have already been thrown out by judges.

The White House has failed to produce any evidence to back their allegations that the election was rigged.

France, Turkey and Israel have already recognized Biden as the president-elect, but Pompeo is expected to insist, as he did last week, that the Trump administration is preparing for a second term. "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Pompeo said last Tuesday in response to a question from US media. French President Emmanuel Macron - who has endured a frosty relationship with Trump - was one of the first international leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory on November 3, and the photo and video images of his call were widely distributed by the Elysée Palace, which is unusual in such cases.

No information or images of his meeting with Pompeo, however, have been released. This is a "courtesy" visit, only the French Presidency has said.

Pompeo arrived at the weekend in the French capital and on Sunday held a private meeting with directors of the Institut Montaigne think tank, with whom he discussed key issues on the international agenda, including terrorism and the global response to the pandemic.

DESIRE FOR CONTINUITY

"The United States and France have been close partners since the founding of our nation, and we’ll continue to address our shared concerns together," Pompeo said on Twitter after his visit with the French think tank.

No public statements about their meetings have been released. The Elysée Palace only specified before the meetings took place that the outgoing Secretary of State would be received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and later by Macron, without there being any declarations or statements issued afterwards.

But although the French authorities recognize Biden as president-elect and according to BFM TV have already initiated contacts with his team through the French Embassy in Washington and French presidential advisors, Le Drian is pragmatic in assuming that "until January 20" his counterpart will be Pompeo.

Le Drian told BFM TV on Friday that the French government wanted to urge Pompeo and the United States not to accelerate the withdrawal of their troops in Afghanistan and Iraq due to the risk of destabilizing the two countries.

BROAD AGENDA

Terrorism, the situation in the Middle East and relations with China were the other main items on the agenda. Washington had also specified that transatlantic action on economic and security issues was also on the menu for its talks.

"The United States will only respect us as allies if we are serious about ourselves and sovereign about our own defense," Macron said this Sunday in an interview with "Le Grand Continent" magazine.

The change of occupant in the White House, he said, is "an opportunity to continue in a totally peaceful and calm manner what the allies among themselves must understand": the need for Europe to continue strengthening its autonomy in order to better stand alongside world powers China and the US.

Five years on from the 2015 attacks on the Bataclan concert hall and several bars in Paris in which 130 people died, Pompeo included in his agenda a small tribute by placing a wreath in front of the monument in memory of the victims of terrorism. The five year anniversary of the attacks was marked on Friday.

This "farewell" trip, as described by the newspaper Le Monde, will end on November 23.

Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will be the next destinations on the tour, which includes meetings with religious leaders such as the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

He will be visiting countries that have already positioned themselves on Biden's side, from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he looked forward to working with him to "further strengthen the special partnership," to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has shown his willingness for "strong" cooperation.