Commemoration
Berlin, Nov. 8, 2019 (dpa/NAN) U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday as part of a visit that has coincided with commemorations for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Pompeo plans to meet Defence Minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, before giving a speech at the Koerber Foundation and holding talks with Merkel.
Later in the day, the top U.S. diplomat is due to meet Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, and unveil a statue at the U.S. embassy.
Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Germany have suffered under the presidency of Donald Trump, who has repeatedly chastised Berlin for its low defence spending and its role in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bringing gas from Russia, as well as threatening the EU with punitive tariffs.
On Thursday, Pompeo and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, visited the village of Moedlareuth, which was divided into two during the Cold War.
They also visited the city of Halle, where a right-wing extremist gunman last month killed two people after a botched attack on a synagogue.
Pompeo plans to leave Germany just before the actual anniversary of the fall of the Wall on Saturday. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde