US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to begin a two-day trip yesterday to bolster ties with Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders, often at odds with other EU countries, have warm ties with US President Donald Trump.
Rubio would use the trip to discuss energy cooperation and bilateral issues, including NATO commitments, the US Department of State said earlier this month.
“These are countries that are very strong with us, very cooperative with the United States, work very closely with us, and it’s a good opportunity to go see them and two countries I’ve never been in,” Rubio said.
Photo: Reuters
Rubio, who in his dual role also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was to meet in Bratislava yesterday with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who visited Trump in Florida last month.
Rubio is expected to meet today with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is trailing in most polls ahead of an election in April when he could be voted out of power.
“The President said he’s very supportive of him, and so are we,” Rubio said. “But obviously we were going to do that visit as a bilateral visit.”
Orban, one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe, is considered by many on the US’ hard-right as a model for Trump’s tough policies on immigration, and support for families and Christian conservatism.
Budapest has repeatedly hosted Conservative Political Action Conference events, which bring together conservative activists and leaders, with another due next month.
Fico and Orban have clashed with EU institutions over probes into backsliding on democratic rules.
They have also maintained ties with Moscow, criticized and at times delayed the imposition of EU sanctions on Russia, and opposed sending military aid to Ukraine.
Even as other EU countries have secured alternative energy supplies after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, including by buying US natural gas, Slovakia and Hungary have also continued to buy Russian gas and oil, a practice Washington has criticized.
Rubio said this would be discussed during his brief tour, but did not give any details.
Fico, who has described the EU as an institution that is in “deep crisis,” has showered Trump with praise saying he would bring peace back to Europe.
However, Fico criticized the US capture of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month.
Hungary and Slovakia have also so far diverged from Trump on NATO spending.
They have raised defense spending to NATO’s minimum threshold of 2 percent of GDP.
However, Fico has refused to raise expenditure above that level for now, even though Trump has repeatedly asked all NATO members to increase their military spending to 5 percent. Hungary has also planned for 2 percent defense spending in this year’s budget.
On nuclear cooperation, Slovakia last month signed an agreement with the US and Fico has said US-based Westinghouse was likely to build a new nuclear power plant.
He also said after meeting the chief of France’s nuclear engineering company, Framatome, that he would welcome more companies taking part in the project.
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