(ANSA-AFP) - PRAGUE, 11 AGO - US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo arrived in Prague on Tuesday, public TV footage showed,
to open a five-day visit to central Europe with a hefty agenda
including China's role in 5G network construction. Pompeo will
spend two days in the Czech Republic before moving on to
Slovenia, Austria and close ally Poland, which is eager to
welcome some of the US troops leaving Germany to guard against
historic adversary Russia. The focus will be on Pompeo's
campaign for nations to shun Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant
considered a threat by Washington as it takes a lead in
fifth-generation internet, and to reduce Europe's energy
dependence on Russia. On Tuesday, Pompeo will join his Czech
counterpart Tomas Petricek on a trip to Plzen (Pilsen) to pay
tribute to US troops that liberated the western Czech city in
1945. On Wednesday, he will meet Czech and US tech companies
over 5G before talks with billionaire Czech Prime Minister
Andrej Babis. Pompeo will also deliver a speech in the Czech
senate and hold a short meeting with the pro-Russian,
pro-Chinese Czech President Milos Zeman. The next day, Pompeo
will travel to Slovenia where he is due to sign a bilateral
agreement on 5G security. Still on Thursday, Pompeo will travel
to Austria to meet Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for talks on
US-Austrian trade and Austria's involvement in peacekeeping
missions worldwide. Finally, the secretary will move to Poland
on Saturday to discuss the redeployment of troops pulled from
Germany. The Pentagon has recently said the United States would
bring home some 6,400 military personnel from Germany and shift
nearly 5,600 more to other NATO allies. The Donald Trump
administration has close ties with Polish President Andrzej
Duda, who had earned an invitation to the White House days
before being re-elected in June. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz
Blaszczak has said that the United States will deploy at least
1,000 additional troops to Poland. (ANSA-AFP).
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