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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began his Central European tour in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Sunday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Robert Fico. Rubio will also visit Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on Monday.
Both Hungary and Slovakia are considered key allies of US President Donald Trump in Europe.
The latest US National Security Strategy, published last year, warned of a “civilisational decline” in Europe and called for greater cooperation with nationalist forces in the EU.
Rubio left for Slovakia after delivering a speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he said the US and Europe share a common destiny but warned that Europe’s cultural and economic decline must be reversed and that mass migration must be stopped.
Rubio meets Robert Fico, a leftist Trump supporter
According to the State Department, the US wants to strengthen cooperation with Bratislava on nuclear energy, energy diversification and the modernisation of the Slovak army.
Robert Fico visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January to discuss a nuclear deal. Slovakia intends to buy nuclear reactors from the US in a project that could be worth around €13bn to €15bn, with the US company Westinghouse possibly providing technology.
Robert Fico is a leftist nationalist politician who is aligned with Trump’s political agenda on illegal migration and the war in Ukraine, and he is highly critical of the European Union.
Slovakia, alongside Hungary, continues to import oil and natural gas via pipelines from Russia. Both countries oppose the EU’s REPowerEU plan to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2027. The US gave Hungary a one-year exemption from US secondary tariffs targeting countries importing Russian oil.
Slovakia supports Trump’s peace efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Fico has criticised the EU’s military and financial support to Ukraine and called for peace negotiations instead. Fico was criticised by Brussels last year for visiting Russia’s Victory Day parade in May.
However, Fico also vehemently criticised the US military raid in Venezuela in January, which led to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
“If military power is used without the mandate of the UN Security Council, then everyone who is great and strong does what he wants to promote his own interests,” Fico said in January.
Rubio to visit Hungary’s Orbán on Monday
Marco Rubio will be in Hungary on Monday to meet Prime Minister Orbán, a right-wing conservative leader who supports Trump’s political agenda.
According to the State Department, the talks will focus on “the peace process to resolve global conflicts” and on the US-Hungary energy partnership.
Hungary was the first European nation to join Trump’s Board of Peace initiative, which aims to resolve global conflicts.
Prime Minister Orbán also aligns with Trump’s agenda on migration. He is highly critical of the EU’s green policies and frequently calls for a right-wing conservative takeover of the EU institutions.
The US last year gave Hungary a one-year exemption from US secondary tariffs targeting countries importing Russian oil. In December, Hungary signed a deal with the US company Chevron to import 2 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.
Trump is also endorsing Prime Minister Orbán in Hungary’s electoral campaign, where Orbán faces his most difficult election in April. The opposition Tisza Party, led by centre-right Péter Magyar, is leading in opinion polls.
Prime Minister Orbán has invited Trump to visit Hungary during the campaign, but the trip has not yet been confirmed by the US administration.
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