Kerry on Europe farewell tour to reassure US allies

BERLIN: US Secretary of State John Kerry kicked off a European farewell tour on Monday, six weeks before the inauguration of President elect Donald Trump whose shock victory has deeply unsettled the continent.

The top American diplomat is visiting Germany and Brussels seat of the EU and NATO to stress the importance of transatlantic ties before he and the rest of President Barack Obama s administration hand over to the Trump team on January 20.

Trump has vowed to rip up key diplomatic achievements reached under Kerry  from the Iran nuclear deal to a trans Pacific trade pact   and was this week looking for a successor at the helm of the State Department.

Kerry started his trip in Berlin where he and his German counterpart Frank Walter Steinmeier were to discuss ongoing crises from the Syria and Ukraine conflicts to Yemen and Libya as well as upcoming NATO and OSCE ministerial meetings.

In the evening Kerry was to receive the German Cross of Merit from Steinmeier for their close cooperation in areas from climate change to countering the DAESH.

On Tuesday in Brussels Kerry joins a two day NATO foreign ministers meeting which a US diplomat said aims to boost efforts to strengthen NATO s security to project stability to the alliance s east and south and to strengthen NATO EU cooperation .

Yet partners will also seek clarity after Trump has suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the rescue of a NATO ally under threat if it had not paid its dues to the alliance.

On Wednesday Kerry will travel to the northern German city of Hamburg for a two day foreign ministers meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) hosted by Steinmeier.

The meeting of the 57 member OSCE will address concerns especially in eastern Europe about the threat posed by Russia after its 2014 annexation of Ukraine s Crimea peninsula.

Also in Hamburg will be Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Kerry s counterpart amid tensions over the Ukraine conflict and the Syrian war where Moscow backs the regime of President Bashar al Assad.

A State Department official said Kerry will emphasise the need for all 57 (member states) to uphold and implement OSCE principles and commitments including on human rights and military security .

 A thousand miles away   Meanwhile back in the United States Trump s team was Monday searching for a candidate to replace Kerry as the president elect has been firing off diplomatic broadsides on Twitter.

Whoever becomes the nominee to succeed Kerry said senior aide Kellyanne Conway must be ready to implement and adhere to the president elect s America First foreign policy if you will his view of the world.
Kerry speaking on Sunday at a Washington think tank said he was working to stay a thousand miles away from the Trump transition and the process .

Asked whether the Trump team had sought State Department input so far as it has made contact with foreign leaders Kerry said we have not been contacted before any of these conversations.
We have not been requested to provide talking points.