‘Armageddon Mike’ Pompeo Bashing China and Huawei on Tour in Central and Eastern Europe

Aug. 12, 2020 (EIRNS)—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is using his four-nation tour of Central and Eastern Europe to urge the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, and Poland to have nothing to do with Huawei, China (the Chinese Communist Party, CCP, that is) and Russia, as a sign of their “shared values” with the United States. In his remarks in the Czech Republic Aug. 11, Pompeo charged that “authoritarian” Russia and China are using energy, infrastructure, and telecom work to infiltrate and pull down European nations. He urged “young democracies” in Central and Eastern Europe to “resist threats” from Russia and China to defend their “hard-won freedoms.”

Today, Pompeo is meeting with Czech and U.S. tech companies on 5G technology, focusing on the need for a “clean path” for 5G—that is, one that excludes Huawei. He was to meet with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, reportedly a fierce critic of Huawei, and then briefly with Czech President Milos Zeman, who is very open to working with Russia and China. According to Emerging Europe website, Pompeo is dangling increased U.S. trade and investment, also urging the Czechs to turn to the U.S., not Russia, for development of nuclear energy—specifically the €6.2 billion reactor at the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

In a speech today before the Czech Senate, “Armageddon Mike” warned, “What’s happening now isn’t Cold War 2.0. The challenge of resisting the CCP threat is in some ways much more difficult. The CCP is already enmeshed in our economies, in our politics, in our societies in ways the Soviet Union never was.”

In Slovenia, Pompeo is expected to sign a bilateral agreement on 5G security in his meeting with new Prime Minister Janez Jansa. Tomorrow, Aug. 13, he will be in Austria to meet with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, where he’s expected to rail against Huawei as well. Poland represents a special challenge to Pompeo. Even though President Andrzej Duda is friendly toward the U.S., he hasn’t yet made a decision about Huawei, which has already partly built the country’s 5G network, according to Emerging Europe. Duda has, however, recently pledged to restrict “high-risk” infrastructure—Huawei—and Pompeo will pressure him to follow through on this.