Kerry eyes Europe, ME for 1st trip

WASHINGTON—Secretary of State John Kerry has been presented with a full plate of global crises as he plots his maiden voyage abroad: Egypt in chaos, Syria engulfed in civil war, moribund Mideast peace talks and North Korea threatening to detonate an atomic bomb while Iran moves closer to developing one of its own.

As he seals his transition from legislator to diplomat with his first official trip overseas, Kerry will have to deal with all of these unresolved diplomatic crises even as he looks to put his personal stamp on American foreign policy by cementing traditional trans-Atlantic ties with US allies and preparing for President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to the Middle East.

Washington-based diplomats say the former senator and 2004 presidential candidate is likely to embark on his first trip as secretary to Europe and the Middle East in the last week of February.

The exact itinerary has yet to be determined, but Kerry is expected in several European capitals and Israel, the Palestinian territories and possibly Egypt, according to the diplomats.

The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The State Department declined to comment on Kerry’s potential travel plans.

The trip will highlight some of the issues Kerry has been most deeply engaged in over 28 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the last four as chair: US-European cooperation over such issues as pacifying Afghanistan and fighting climate change, addressing the rising terror threat from North Africa and finally pressing Israelis and Palestinians into finding some kind of path toward a two-state peace agreement.