Pompeo to visit Greece, including Souda Bay naval base

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Greece, including an increasingly-watched naval base, to kick off a four-nation tour of Europe, the State Department announced Thursday.  Pompeo will depart the US on Sept. 27 and return over a week later on Oct. 5.
In Greece, Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias "to renew our shared commitment to advance security, peace and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean and celebrate the strongest U.S.-Greek relationship in decades," department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Pompeo will also visit the city of Thessaloniki to sign a bilateral technology agreement and meet with commercial energy sector leaders "for a discussion to highlight energy diversification and infrastructure projects in Greece."

He will then travel to Souda Bay on the island of Crete. There he will visit the US naval facility "to underscore the strong U.S. security partnership with NATO Ally Greece," Ortagus said.
The visit comes on the heels of bombshell comments from US Senator Ron Johnson who suggested earlier this month that the US is building up the naval installation as a looming replacement for its presence at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.