- Title: U.S.' Pompeo warns N.Macedonia about risks of Chinese investment
- Date: 4th October 2019
- Summary: OHRID, NORTH MACEDONIA (OCTOBER 4, 2019) (REUTERS) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO AND NORTH MACEDONIA'S PRESIDENT STEVO PENDAROVSKI WALKING TO TERRACE CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING VARIOUS OF POMPEO AND PENDAROVSKI TALKING ON TERRACE OF VILA BILJANA, COMPLEX OF STATE VILLAD NORTH MACEDONIAN FLAG WAVING POMPEO AND PENDAROVSKI WALKING INSIDE POMPEO AND NORTH MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER ZORAN ZAEV ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MIKE POMPEO, SAYING: "As I've done elsewhere in my travels in Europe, I also warned of the risks of Chinese investments in the sense of technologies and China's bribe-heavy strategy to secure infrastructure deals. We want North Macedonia to succeed, not struggle with corruption or with that." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MIKE POMPEO, SAYING: "You, prime minister, you've contributed troops to fight alongside ours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. You're on track to spend 2 percent of your budget on defence by 2020, you've contributes to the coalition which has defeated the ISIS (Islamic State) caliphate. These commitments give us great confidence in North Macedonia would be a strong, capable NATO partner, part of the alliance I am confident that the United States' Senate will ratify your accession protocol this fall so that we can formally fold you into the NATO team." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Macedonian) NORTH MACEDONIAN PRIME MINISTER ZORAN ZAEV, SAYING: "By becoming a full-fledged NATO member state, our contribution (ed's note: North Macedonia's participation in global initiatives) in that direction will receive a great stimulus and new dimension. The NATO membership is our sovereign decision and there is strong support that goes beyond political parties and a serious inter-ethnic consensus. The NATO membership is an achievement of a historic goal. It is a great benefit not only for our country but also for the reinforcement of the security, freedom and the democratic prosperity of the whole region." CAMERA OPERATOR FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE POMPEO AND ZAEV SHAKING HANDS AND POSING FOR PHOTOS / POMPEO AND ZAEV LEAVING
- Embargoed: 18th October 2019 15:22
- Keywords: Pompeo in North Macedonia U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo U.S. foreign policy Balkans
- Location: OHRID, NORTH MACEDONIA
- City: OHRID, NORTH MACEDONIA
- Country: Macedonia
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZOMLVR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday (October 4) he had warned leaders of North Macedonia about the risks of Chinese investment in sensitive technologies.
He said China used "bribe-heavy strategy" to win infrastructure deals.
Pompeo message was a part of Washington's worldwide campaign to convince allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, alleging the world's top telecommunications equipment maker could spy on users for Beijing. Huawei has denied the allegations.
Speaking after meeting Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Pompeo also said he was confident the U.S. Senate would ratify North Macedonia's accession to NATO in autumn.
Pompeo was on a short trip to Montenegro and North Macedonia to discuss the countries' roles in the Western NATO alliance.
North Macedonia expects to become the 30th member of NATO by the end of the year.
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