The Department of State has awarded the construction contract for a major rehabilitation of the U.S. Embassy Chancery in Copenhagen, Denmark to Facilities Development Corporation of Reston, Virginia. The architect is Beyer Blinder Belle of Washington, DC.

OBO’s mission is to provide safe, secure, and functional facilities that represent the U.S. government to host nations and support our staff in achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives. These facilities represent U.S. values and the best in U.S. architecture, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, construction execution, and resiliency.

For further information, please contact Christine Foushee at FousheeCT@state.gov, or visit www.state.gov/obo.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The United States stands with the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) following that country’s historic transfer of power. The elections reflect the desire of the people of the D.R.C. for change and accountable government institutions. However, there are legitimate concerns over the conduct and transparency of the electoral process.

The Secretary of State is publicly designating, due to their involvement in significant corruption relating to the electoral process, the following individuals: Mr. Corneille Nangaa, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (D.R.C.) National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI); Mr. Norbert Basengezi Katintima, Vice President of CENI; Mr. Marcellin Mukolo Basengezi, Advisor to the President of CENI; Mr. Aubin Minaku Ndjalandjoko, President of the D.R.C.’s National Assembly; and Mr. Benoit Lwamba Bindu, President of the D.R.C.’s Constitutional Court. This public designation is being made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2019, (Div. F, P.L. 116-6-).

Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

The Secretary of State is also imposing visa restrictions on election officials as well as military and government officials believed to be responsible for, complicit in, or to have engaged in human rights violations or abuses or undermining of the democratic process in the D.R.C.

These individuals enriched themselves through corruption, or directed or oversaw violence against people exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. They operated with impunity at the expense of the Congolese people and showed a blatant disregard for democratic principles and human rights.

The Department of State emphasizes that the actions announced today are specific to certain officials and not directed at the Congolese people or the newly elected government. This decision reflects the Department of State’s commitment to working with the new D.R.C. government to realize its expressed commitment to end corruption and strengthen democracy and accountability, and respect for human rights.

For more information, please contact AF-Press@state.gov.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The below is attributable to Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino: ‎

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defense Didier Reynders today in Washington. January marked the start of Belgium’s sixth term on the UN Security Council, and the two discussed critical areas for global security cooperation, including burden sharing, next steps on the political process in Venezuela, threats posed by China and Iran, and Russia’s violation of the INF Treaty.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams will travel to Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida and Cucuta, Colombia February 21-22 to support the delivery of humanitarian aid to some of the most vulnerable people in Venezuela in response to Interim President Guaido’s request.

Special Representative Abrams will lead a U.S. government delegation to accompany humanitarian supplies to be transported from Florida to Colombia by military aircraft. While in Colombia Special Representative Abrams will meet Colombian President Duque and visiting delegations from Central and South America.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

The United States hosted consultations on the political and security pillars of the Middle East Strategic Alliance today in Washington. Senior officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the Gulf Cooperation Council came together to discuss the alliance, a whole-of-government initiative to advance regional stability, security, and prosperity through enhanced multilateral cooperation in the political, economic, energy, and security spheres.

Defensive in nature, the alliance’s structure is intended to advance participating nations’ common objectives and address threats to regional stability, security, and prosperity.

Today’s consultations included formative exchanges on the strategic objectives of the alliance, with particular emphasis on political and security-related topics.

The United States looks forward to continuing these positive discussions in order to leverage synergy and more effectively address existing and emergent challenges to our shared, vital interests in the region.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.