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US Top Diplomat Heads to Central Europe as US Looks to Confront Russian,
Chinese Influence

Nike Ching

   WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is launching a
   weeklong trip to central Europe with a stop Tuesday in the Czech
   Republic where he is scheduled to give a speech and have a dinner
   meeting with Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek.

   Pompeo is also set to visit a museum commemorating the U.S. role in
   liberating the region during World War 2.

   The top U.S. diplomat's trip comes as the Trump administrationlooks to
   confront Russian and Chinese economic and geopolitical competition in
   Europe.

   Pompeois traveling to Prague and Pilsen in the Czech Republic;
   Ljubljana, Slovenia; Vienna, Austria; and Warsaw, Poland, from Aug. 11
   to Aug. 15.

   Hewill become the first secretary of state since 2011 to visit
   Slovenia, where he will sign a Joint Declaration on 5G technology as
   Washington is countering risks posed by communist China's "infiltration
   into high-tech networks" in the region.

   The trip comes as the Pentagon prepares to move forward with a plan to
   pull almost 12,000 troops from Germany and redeploy part of the U.S.
   forces to Poland and other NATO nations, raising concerns at home and
   in Europe even as senior officials defend it as a strategic necessity.
   Mary Mooney

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