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The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, headed by Assistant Secretary Philip H. Gordon, implements U.S. foreign policy in Europe and Eurasia. The Bureau promotes U.S. interests in the region on issues such as national security, NATO enlargement, coordination with the European Union and other regional organizations, support for democracy, human rights, civil society, economic prosperity, the war on terrorism, and nonproliferation.
Travel to Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland
In Paris, France, Assistant Secretary Gordon met with senior French government officials to discuss the full range of bilateral and global issues. Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Geneva, Switzerland on October 10 to represent the United States in the Twenty-First Session of the Geneva Discussions on Georgia to continue efforts to reduce tensions and address the needs of the people on the ground. He also met separately on the margins with both Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergi Kapanadze to discuss regional as well as bilateral issues. Trip Page»
U.S. Foreign Policy in Europe
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Sept. 27): "We’re obviously here all week in New York for the General Assembly led by Secretary Clinton, engaged in a very intensive week of diplomacy, but including transatlantic diplomacy and lots of engagement with our European and Eurasian counterparts, so I thought it would be useful to come by and share a bit of some of the things we’ve been talking about in that context and really more broadly talk about our engagements with Europe and Eurasia in recent weeks and months." Full Text»
67th UN General Assembly
Senior Administration Official (Sept. 25): "the Secretary, prior to the Transatlantic Dinner, had the opportunity to meet with a number of foreign ministers, including, in particular, several whom she hadn’t had formal bilats with who are new since certainly the last General Assembly, which includes the Greek Foreign Minister, Mr. Avramopoulos; the Belgian Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders; and the very new Norwegian Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide. And the Secretary also met with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague." Full Text» Trip Page»
Press Gaggle at the Center for European Policy Analysis
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Sept. 20): "In some ways, as I’ve made clear, the partnership for Europe is even more important to us because we face these great challenges in Asia and the Middle East -- that’s why we’re increasing our partnering with European countries." Full Text»
U.S. Relations With Central Europe
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Sept. 20): "The United States is proud to have supported the aspirations and struggles of Central Europeans." Full Text»
Importance of 2012 Verkhovna Rada Elections to Ukraine's Future
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Sept. 19): "Free and fair elections are at the heart of the democratic process. We encourage Ukraine to seize the opportunity of the October parliamentary elections and to use them as a springboard toward becoming a modern, prosperous, democratic, European country." Full Text»
The Transatlantic Trends 2012
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Sept. 12): "It’s not just a coincidence but the result of our deliberate efforts to strengthen the partnership with Europe, to work with Europeans, and to make clear that we understand that to deal with the problems that we face in the world we need strong partners who share our values, have resources to bring to the table, who think like we do about international affairs and I think the GMF Transatlantic Trends numbers underscore that the Europeans fit that bill." Full Text»
Secretary's Travel to Russia
Secretary Clinton (Sept. 8): "During the past three and a half years, the United States and Russia have deepened our cooperation to address shared challenges. We adopted a New START Treaty, we increased trade and investment, and supported Russia’s joining the WTO. And we’re taking three more steps to do work together. " Full Text» Fact Sheet» Media Note» Trip Page»
Travel to Turkey and Romania
Assistant Secretary Gordon joined Secretary Clinton in Istanbul, Turkey, for meetings with senior Turkish government officials and Syrian activists. On August 12, Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Bucharest, Romania, where he will met with senior government officials to discuss the concerns the United States has regarding recent government actions that threaten democratic checks and balances and weaken independent institutions. Assistant Secretary Gordon also met with members of civil society and the business community to discuss how their work plays a role in strengthening the democratic values and principles that unite the transatlantic community. Trip Page»
Travel to Greece and Turkey
Travel to France, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Cyprus
Secretary Clinton's Travel to Finland, Latvia, and Russia
Senior State Department Official (June 26): "I’ll walk you through Finland, Latvia, and St. Petersburg. In some ways, the first two stops on this trip are a continuation of the Nordic stops we did a couple of weeks ago with some of the same themes and issues and purposes, one of which is just to express our great appreciation for the cooperation of a great ally and partner in Finland and Latvia. But some of the other issues like climate, the environment, the Arctic, women’s empowerment, Afghanistan will be issues that the Secretary will be addressing with her counterparts in Finland and Latvia....And then on to St. Petersburg, where the Secretary will attend the APEC Women’s and Economy Forum." Full Text» Trip Page»
Keynote Address at the Brookings Institution
Assistant Secretary Gordon (May 23): "I would assert that the United States and Europe have never been more strategically aligned. This is not to say that there aren’t differences between us, just as there are debates within the United States or the European Union. But the reality is that we have developed a common transatlantic agenda that enables us to join forces to meet the demands of a very challenging world to a degree that I don’t think was paralleled, not just in recent times in the previous administration, but the one before that or the several that preceded that. And this unity of purpose, I think, is now recognized on both sides of the Atlantic." Full Text» Learn More»
2012 NATO Summit
The United States hosted the NATO Summit May 20-21, in Chicago, Illinois. President Obama welcomed leaders from NATO member and partner nations to his hometown for the Summit of the world’s most successful Alliance. At the NATO Summit, leaders discussed the next major phase of transition in Afghanistan, agreed to further steps to ensure NATO has the capabilities necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and further broadened and deepened its relationships with non-NATO partners. Learn More»
The NATO Summit in Chicago
Assistant Secretary Gordon (May 10): "This will be the first NATO Summit on American soil in 13 years and the first ever outside of Washington. In addition to the opportunity to showcase one of our nation’s great cities, our hosting of the Summit is a tangible symbol of the importance of NATO to the United States. It is also an opportunity to underscore to the American people the continued value of the Alliance to the security challenges we face today." Full Text»
The Chicago Summit and U.S. Policy
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kaidanow (Apr. 26): "NATO is vital to U.S. security. More than ever, the Alliance is the mechanism through which the U.S. confronts diverse and difficult threats to our security together with like-minded states who share our fundamental values of democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Our experiences in the Cold War, in the Balkans, and now in Afghanistan prove that our core interests are better protected by working together than by seeking to respond to threats alone as individual nations." Full Text»
Travel to France and Belgium
Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium May 10-15, 2012. In Paris, the Assistant Secretary met with French officials to discuss President-elect Francois Hollande’s upcoming visit to the United States and preparations for the NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20-21. In Brussels, Assistant Secretary Gordon met with NATO and European Union officials to review the Chicago Summit and other issues on the transatlantic agenda, including Afghanistan and the Balkans. Trip Page»
Travel to Germany and Spain
Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Berlin, Germany and Madrid, Spain, May 2-8. In Berlin, he met with senior German government officials to discuss the range of issues on the bilateral agenda and preparations for the NATO Summit in Chicago, May 20-21. He also spoke at a transatlantic security event hosted by the German Marshall Fund and participated in the Daimler U.S.-European Forum on Global Issues. While in Madrid, Assistant Secretary Gordon met with senior Spanish government officials to discuss bilateral and global issues. He also made remarks at a conference on NATO sponsored by Instituto Elcano. Trip Page»
The U.S. and Europe: Meeting Global Challenges
Assistant Secretary Gordon (Mar. 1): "Three years into this administration I would assert that the United States and Europe have never been more aligned, both in overall strategic goals as well as the tactics that we use to achieve those goals. While the foreign policy challenges today are no less pressing -- indeed many exist alongside a host of new problems -- we have been able to approach them more effectively because we’ve been doing so together with our European allies.” Full Text»
Travel to Belgium and Russia
Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Brussels, Belgium and Moscow, Russia, February 14-18. In Brussels, he met with NATO and EU officials to discuss a broad range of issues on our transatlantic agenda, and discussed preparations for the NATO Summit in Chicago, May 20-21. In Moscow, the Assistant Secretary met with senior Russian officials to discuss global issues and the bilateral agenda. He also held meetings with business and civil society leaders. Trip Page»
Travel to Germany, Bulgaria, and Ukraine
Travel to Germany, Lithuania, and Denmark
Assistant Secretary Gordon traveled to Germany, Lithuania, and Denmark, from January 10-14. In Berlin, Germany, he met with senior German Government officials and held a discussion on U.S. and European engagement on global issues at the Korber Foundation. He then traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry’s annual Snow Meeting on Euro-Atlantic security issues and met with high-level Lithuanian and other Baltic government officials. In Copenhagen, Denmark, Assistant Secretary Gordon met with European Union Political Directors and held discussions with senior Danish government officials. Trip Page»
For speaking and interview requests on European and Eurasian Affairs, please fax your request to the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs' Office of Press and Policy Outreach at 202-647-5116.
