ZAGREB, Oct 2, 2020 – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the press in Dubrovnik on Friday that he was negative for coronavirus and that he felt great at the start of a day-long visit to Croatia.
Pompeo arrived at Dubrovnik Airport from Italy, which he had officially visited as part of a European tour.
After US President Donald Trump said he was positive for coronavirus, Pompeo and his wife were tested on the plane and both are negative. Pompeo and Trump last met in mid-September.
In Dubrovnik’s Old Town, he was met by Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman.
They visited the Ron Brown Memorial Centre, dedicated to the US trade secretary who was killed, together with a whole 34-person delegation, when their plane crashed near Dubrovnik Airport in 1996.
Pompeo is the highest US official in the Trump administration to visit Croatia. In Dubrovnik, he is also due to meet with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Defence Minister Mario Banozic.
The secretary of state might announce today that, after 30 years, Croatian nationals will no longer need a visa to enter the US. US Ambassador Robert Kohorst said on Tuesday he had no official report yet that the requirement of less than 3% of rejected applications had been met, but that he was very optimistic.
Croatian leaders and Pompeo will also discuss the revocation of double taxation between the two countries as well as Croatia’s purchase of US fighter jets. The US has offered new F-16s. Offers have also been submitted by Israel, Sweden and France.
The Dubrovnik meeting will also address an LNG terminal off Krk island and the 5G network. The US is worried about the spread of China’s influence and Huawei’s participation in the building of the 5G network in the world.
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