One of the signals that Fico intends to “renew bridges” with EU countries, many of whom he called “warmongers” over military aid to Ukraine, was his meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron on January 29.
The latter described it as a “strategic awakening.”
“Slovak leader Robert Fico, whose loyalty to [президенту США] Donald Trump and constant clashes with EU institutions determined his premiership and offers an olive branch to EU partners,” the material says.
Fico's change of tone in relations with the EU comes amid Europe's condemnation of Trump's threats to annex the Danish autonomy of Greenland and the US takeover of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bloomberg noted.
In addition, the last meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago was unsuccessful for Fico, who made efforts to strengthen ties with Washington, the agency writes. The media also pointed to a drop in the popularity of the American president among Fico's voters (from 61% last year to 16%).
Pressure on Fico is also being created by Orban’s weakening position amid the parliamentary elections in Hungary in April and the lack of reliable populist allies, Bloomberg pointed out.
Context
Politico, citing five European diplomats, wrote that Fico is on the sidelines of an emergency EU summit on January 22 shared his impressions from his meeting with US President Donald Trump a week earlier at Mar-a-Lago (Florida). According to the publication, Fico used the word “dangerous” when describing the impression that Trump made on him and expressed concerns about the state of mind of the American president.
Slovak Prime Minister called it “a lie” media publication. “No one heard anything, no one saw anything, there are no witnesses,” Fico said.
