Pompeo off to Europe next week amid strains on many fronts

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Europe next week on a four-nation trip amid trans-Atlantic strains on many fronts.

The State Department says Pompeo will visit Finland, Germany, Britain and Greenland for discussions on Russia and China as well as Syria. The Trump administration is at odds with numerous European allies over trade, their support for a proposed Russian gas pipeline and the use of Chinese 5G technology.

In Finland, Pompeo will deliver a speech on U.S. policy in the Arctic, a region that is becoming a point of friction between Washington and Moscow.

He’ll then travel to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and London to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May. He’ll wrap up in Nuuk, where he’ll see senior officials from Greenland and Denmark.