蒂勒森國務卿出訪歐洲重申對北約堅定承諾

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he plans to affirm an "ironclad" U.S. commitment to NATO during a visit to Belgium, Austria and France this week.

Dogged by reports by several media outlets that the White House is considering replacing him with CIA Chief Mike Pompeo, Tillerson called those reports “laughable”. President Donald Trump also tweeted that Tillerson is not leaving any time soon.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed Tillerson's job insecurity speculation Monday as a distraction, saying the trans-Atlantic alliance “and NATO ministers are able to focus on the core tasks of the job we have to do despite any speculation and rumors.” Stoltenberg also praised Tillerson's strong personal commitment to the trans-Atlantic bond and to NATO. Tillerson is set to meet with Stoltenberg to discuss a range of global security issues.

The U.S. envoy to NATO, former Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, said that there has been no change to plans for two days of talks starting Tuesday in Brussels between Tillerson and his NATO foreign minister counterparts.美國國務卿蒂勒森說，他計劃這個星期訪問比利時、奧地利和法國期間強調美國對北約“堅如磐石”的承諾。

幾家媒體報道說，白宮考慮用中央情報局局長蓬佩奧取代蒂勒森。蒂勒森稱這些報道“可笑”。川普總統也在推特上發文說，蒂勒森不會很快離職。

北約祕書長斯托爾滕伯格星期一表示，有關蒂勒森位置不穩的猜測是個干擾因素。他說，儘管有這些猜測和傳聞，但是跨大西洋聯盟和北約成員國部長仍然能集中精力，從事我們應該進行的工作。斯托爾滕伯格還讚揚蒂勒森個人堅定地致力於加強跨大西洋紐帶以及北約。蒂勒森將與斯托爾滕伯格會談，討論涉及全球安全的廣泛議題。

美國的北約特使、前共和黨籍的參議員哈奇森說，蒂勒森星期二開始在比利時與北約成員國外長會談的計劃沒有改變。