巴黎——周六，美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥在欧洲和中东七国之行开始之际，与巴黎智库的一些成员讨论了“全球挑战”，这次行程肯定会很尴尬，因为他日程上的所有国家都祝贺了当选总统乔·拜登赢得白宫。
蓬佩奥是一名隐形的美国特使，这可能是他最后一次正式访问法国，他在推特上发布了他抵达法国的消息，以及他与蒙田学院成员的私人会面，并附有照片。
此行旨在支持即将离任的总统政府的优先事项唐纳德·特朗普。它将包括对西岸以色列定居点的访问，这是前任国务卿回避的。
美国最高外交官——以及总统和他的共和党的大部分成员——都没有接受美国大选的结果，这种不寻常的情况可能会掩盖这些问题。
在他最新的推特上，蓬佩奥说他与蒙田学院的代表讨论了“我们今天面临的全球挑战，从恐怖主义到新冠肺炎大流行”。独立智库表示，它倡导“一个平衡的社会愿景，在这个愿景中，开放和竞争的市场与机会平等和社会凝聚力齐头并进。”
蓬佩奥抵达法国，处于封锁状态，抗击第二波冠状病毒。与他周围坐着的少数人不同，他没有戴面具。
周一，蓬佩奥可能会发现自己的任务很重，届时他将会见法国外长让-伊夫·勒德里安和总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙。据马克龙办公室称，法国总统四天前与拜登通了电话，表达了他在气候变化、恐怖主义和健康等领域合作的愿望。
对于即将离任的国务卿和法国官员来说，周一的会议将是在棘手问题上的微妙举措。
“目前，我的对手是迈克·蓬佩奥，直到1月20日……”勒德里安周五在法国网络BFMTV上说，指的是特朗普任期结束的日期。“他要来巴黎了。我接待他。”
勒德里安指出了谈判桌上的“难题”，从伊拉克和伊朗局势到中东和中国。
他说，他计划公开谈论任何加速从伊拉克和阿富汗撤军的问题，显然担心特朗普可能会以这样的举动结束他的总统任期。
“在我们看来，他不应该做的事，”勒德里安谈到从阿富汗全面撤军时说。“在伊拉克也不应该做什么，(我们)会告诉他。”
马克龙与特朗普关系紧张。两位领导人最初都努力用奢侈的姿态来相互吸引，比如马克龙让特朗普成为巴士底日阅兵的嘉宾。特朗普后来退出了巴黎全球气候协议，这对马克龙是一个打击。
美国也离开了来之不易的伊朗核协议，蓬佩奥在启程前的推特上说，“伊朗的破坏稳定行为”将是讨论的话题之一。
在周六抵达法国的推特上，蓬佩奥为他的巴黎会谈奠定了标准的外交基础，指出法国是美国“最老的朋友和盟友”。“我们两国之间的紧密关系怎么估计也不过分，”他在推特上写道。
他在推特上写道，促进宗教自由和打击恐怖主义也是他此行的议题之一。这两个问题都与法国密切相关。最近几周，法国发生了三起恐怖袭击，造成四人死亡，这与最近再版的伊斯兰先知漫画有关。马克龙坚持认为他的国家尊重言论自由，包括画漫画的权利，此后反法抗议在一些穆斯林国家蔓延。
法国之后，蓬佩奥将访问土耳其、格鲁吉亚、以色列、阿联酋、卡塔尔和沙特阿拉伯。所有这些国家的领导人都公开向拜登表示祝贺。
除了法国之外，土耳其、格鲁吉亚和卡塔尔与特朗普政府的关系一直不稳定，不清楚蓬佩奥是否计划与他们的领导人进行公开接触，也不清楚他是否会接受媒体的提问，他与媒体的关系一直很冷淡。
在北约盟国购买俄罗斯导弹防御系统后，政府与土耳其的关系特别紧张，蓬佩奥下周在伊斯坦堡的停留将不包括与土耳其官员的会晤。相反，蓬佩奥将会见宗教领袖，强调他对宗教自由的提倡。
受到特朗普政府冷落的巴勒斯坦官员谴责蓬佩奥计划访问西岸定居点普萨戈特。巴勒斯坦总理穆罕默德·什塔耶周五在推特上表示，这是定居点合法化的“危险先例”。
据知情官员透露，为了与特朗普拒绝让步以及内阁机构不与拜登过渡团队合作的命令保持一致，国务院没有参与协助拜登打电话给外国领导人。
在周二的新闻发布会上，蓬佩奥说他会继续下去，就像没有改变一样。
“我是国务卿，”他说。“我接到了来自世界各地的电话。这些人在看我们的选举。他们知道我们有法律程序。他们明白这需要时间。”
然而，法国总统勒德里安一直在展望未来，上周日在开罗表示，“我们将在新的跨大西洋关系框架内与美国新总统及其团队合作，我们需要重新找到这一点。”
US secretary of state begins difficult 7-nation tour in France
PARIS -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed "global challenges" with a handful of members of a Paris think tank Saturday at the start of a seven-country tour of Europe and the Middle East, travels that were certain to be awkward since all the nations on his schedule have congratulated President-electJoe Bidenfor winning the White House.
Pompeo was an all but invisible U.S. envoy on what may be his last official trip to France, tweeting out news of his arrival and from his private meeting with members of the Institut Montaigne, accompanied by photos.
The trip is aimed at shoring up the priorities of the outgoing administration of PresidentDonald Trump. It will include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been avoided by previous secretaries of state.
The United States’ top diplomat — as well as its president and much of his Republican Party — have not accepted the results of the American election, and the unusual circumstances will likely overshadow the issues.
In his latest tweet, Pompeo said he addressed “the global challenges we are facing today, from terrorism to the COVID-19 pandemic” with Institut Montaigne representatives. The independent think tank says it promotes “a balanced vision of society, in which open and competitive markets go hand in hand with equality of opportunity and social cohesion.”
Pompeo arrived to a France in lockdown to fight a second wave of the coronavirus. In contrast to the few people seated around him, he did not wear a mask.
Pompeo may find himself doing heavy-lifting on Monday, when he is scheduled to meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron. According to Macron's office, the French president spoke with Biden by phone four days ago and conveyed his desire to work together in areas such as climate change, terrorism and health.
For the outgoing secretary of state and the French officials, Monday's meetings will be a delicate demarche on tough issues.
”For the moment, my counterpart is Mike Pompeo, until Jan. 20…,” Le Drian said Friday on French network BFMTV, referring to the date when Trump’s term ends. “He’s coming to Paris. I receive him.”
Le Drian noted the “difficult subjects” on the table, from the situation in Iraq and Iran to the Middle East and China.
He said he plans to speak out on any accelerated withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, clearly concerned that Trump could end his presidency with such a move.
“What he should not do, in our opinion,” Le Drian said of a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. “What should not be done either in Iraq, (we) will tell him.”
Macron has had a tense relationship with Trump. Both leaders initially worked to woo each other with gestures of extravagance, such as Macron making Trump the guest of honor at a Bastille Day military parade. Trump later pulled out of the Paris global climate accord, a blow to Macron.
The United States also left the hard-won Iran nuclear accord, and Pompeo said in a tweet before departing on his trip that “Iran's destabilizing behavior” would be among topics of discussion.
In an arrival tweet Saturday in France, Pompeo laid out the standard diplomatic groundwork for his Paris talks, noting that France is the “oldest friend and Ally” of the United States. “The strong relationship between our countries cannot be overestimated,” he tweeted.
Promoting religious freedom and countering terrorism were also among topics on the table during his trip, he tweeted. Both issues are keenly relevant to France. There have been three terror attacks in recent weeks in France that have killed four people, linked to recently republished caricatures of the prophet of Islam. Anti-France protests rolled through some Muslim countries after Macron insisted on his nation's respect for freedom of expression, including the right to draw caricatures.
After France, Pompeo’s tour takes him to Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The leaders of all of those countries have offered public congratulations to Biden.
Beside France, Turkey, Georgia and Qatar have had fractious relationships with the Trump administration, and it was not clear whether Pompeo planned public engagements with their leaders — or whether he would take questions from the press, with whom he has had a frosty relationship.
The administration’s relations with Turkey have been particularly strained after the NATO ally’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system, and Pompeo’s stop in Istanbul next week will not include meetings with Turkish officials. Instead, Pompeo will meet with religious leaders to highlight his promotion of religious freedom.
Palestinian officials, who have been snubbed by the Trump administration, have denounced Pompeo’s plans to visit the West Bank settlement of Psagot. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh tweeted on Friday that this was a “dangerous precedent” that legalizes settlements.
In keeping with Trump’s refusal to concede, and orders for Cabinet agencies not to cooperate with the Biden transition team, the State Department has not been involved with facilitating Biden’s calls to foreign leaders, according to officials familiar with the process.
At a news conference Tuesday, Pompeo said he would carry on as if there was no change.
“I’m the secretary of state,” he said. “I’m getting calls from all across the world. These people are watching our election. They understand that we have a legal process. They understand that this takes time.”
Yet his French counterpart Le Drian has been looking toward the future, saying last Sunday in Cairo that “we will work with the new president of the United States and his team in the framework of new trans-Atlantic relations, we will need to re-found this.”
