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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Brussels March 22-25 to attend the NATO ministerial meeting and meet with European Union (EU) leaders in his first visit to Europe as head of U.S. diplomacy, the State Department said Friday.
“The meetings in Brussels reaffirm the United States’ commitment to our European allies and partners on our shared agenda,” the official statement said.
This is Blinken’s first trip to Europe since taking office in late January, and the second international one after a recent visit to South Korea and Japan.
Blinken will participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ministerial summit on March 23-24 where he will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to underscore “the determination of President Joe Biden’s administration to strengthen the transatlantic alliance and revitalize allied ties through NATO.”
Among the topics to be discussed at the meeting are, according to the Washington note, “concerns about China and Russia, as well as climate change, cybersecurity, counterterrorism and energy security.”
Blinken will also meet with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, to discuss “the objectives of containing the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving a sustainable global recovery and strengthening democracy.”
