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WASHINGTON, June 4, 2001, June 4, 2001 – Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld left Washington June 3 on a weeklong trip to Europe where he will visit U.S. troops in Turkey and the Balkans and confer with senior foreign officials.
The secretary's June 3-9 journey starts in Turkey, said a senior DoD official. Rumsfeld will meet with senior Turkish officials on regional defense issues and visit U.S. troops participating in Operation Northern Watch. Moving to Ukraine, the U.S. defense secretary will participate in a joint protocol signing ceremony, the official said. The secretary then flies to the Balkans, where he is to meet the new minister of defense of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and U.S. troops stationed in the region who are supporting NATO's peacekeeping efforts, the official said. He is also scheduled to attend an informal meeting of the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial in Thessalonniki, Greece. In Brussels, Belgium, Rumsfeld will provide remarks at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council on Defense, the senior DoD official said. While in Brussels, Rumsfeld will also attend a series of bilateral meetings with several ministers of defense. Last stop on the trip is Turku, Finland, where Rumsfeld will attend the Nordic-Baltic-U.S. Ministerials. He is expected to return to Washington June 9.
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