POMPEO BEGINS 7-NATION TOUR OF EUROPE, MIDEAST

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 may be awkward since all the nations on his schedule have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden for 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 President Donald 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 — has not accepted the results of the presidential election, and the unusual circumstances is expected to 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 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.

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 are 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.

After France, Pompeo’s tour takes him to Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

PATRICK SEMANSKY AP Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (third from right) and his wife, Susan, are greeted after arriving at Paris Le Bourget Airport.