Rubio begins visits to Slovakia and Hungary on Sunday to strengthen ties with pro-Trump leaders
Marco Rubio. PHOTO: Lenin Nolly / Sipa Press / Profimedia Images
The US Secretary of State begins a two-day visit to discuss energy, NATO and bilateral relations with Robert Fico (Slovakia) and Viktor Orbán (Hungary), amid strained relations with the EU, Turkish media write.
Rubio will use the trip to discuss energy cooperation and bilateral issues, including commitments to NATO, the State Department said.
“These are countries that are very cooperative with the United States, they work very closely with us, and it's a good opportunity to see them, they're two countries that I've never been to,” Rubio told reporters before departing for Europe.
Rubio, who doubles as Trump's national security adviser, will meet in Bratislava on Sunday with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who visited Trump in Florida last month. The American diplomat's trip follows his participation in the Munich Security Conference in recent days.
On Monday, Rubio is expected to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban ahead of the April election. “The president said he's very supportive of it, and so am I,” Rubio said.
Orban, one of Trump's closest allies in Europe, is seen by many on the American far-right as a role model for the US president's tough immigration policies.
Budapest has repeatedly hosted events of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which brings together conservative activists and leaders, with another conference scheduled for March.
Both Fico and Orban have maintained ties to Moscow, criticized and sometimes delayed the imposition of EU sanctions against Russia, and opposed sending military aid to Ukraine.
Even as other European Union countries secured alternative energy supplies after the war between Russia and Ukraine, including by buying natural gas from the US, Slovakia and Hungary also continued to buy Russian gas and oil, a practice criticized by the United States.
Rubio said that would be discussed during his brief tour, but did not elaborate.
Fico, who described the European Union as an institution in “deep crisis”, praised Trump, saying he would bring peace back to Europe.
