US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to begin a two-day visit today aimed at strengthening ties with Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders, often at odds with other European Union states, have warm relations with President Donald Trump.
Rubio will discuss energy cooperation and bilateral issues, including NATO commitments, during the visit, the US State Department said last week.
"These are countries that are very strong towards us, very cooperative with the United States, very close with us, and it's a good opportunity for me to visit them - and they're two countries I've never been to," Rubio told reporters before departing for Europe on Thursday.
Rubio, who also serves as Trump's national security adviser in his dual role, will meet in Bratislava on Tuesday with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who visited Trump in Florida last month. The US diplomat's trip follows his participation in the Munich Security Conference in recent days, Reuters reports.
With Orban on Monday
On Monday, Rubio is expected to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, who is trailing in most polls ahead of elections in April, when he could be removed from power.
"The president said he strongly supports it, and so do we," Rubio said. "But obviously we planned the visit as a bilateral visit anyway."
Orban, one of Trump's closest allies in Europe, is seen by many on the American hard right as a model for the US president's tough immigration policies, family-friendly policies and Christian conservatism. Budapest has hosted several meetings of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which brings together conservative activists and leaders, with the next one planned for March, Reuters reports.
Ties with Moscow and conflicts with the EU
Both Fico and Orban have clashed with EU institutions over investigations into backsliding in respect for democratic rules.
They also maintained ties with Moscow, criticized and occasionally delayed the imposition of EU sanctions on Russia, and opposed sending military aid to Ukraine.
While other European Union countries secured alternative energy sources after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022 - including buying American natural gas - Slovakia and Hungary continued to buy Russian gas and oil, a move criticized by the United States.
Rubio said it would be discussed during his brief tour, but he did not provide details.
Fico, who described the European Union as an institution in "deep crisis," showered Trump with praise, saying he would restore peace to Europe.
But Fico criticized the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January.
Hungary and Slovakia have also disagreed with Trump on NATO commitments.
They increased defense spending to the minimum NATO threshold of 2 percent of GDP.
Fico, however, has so far refused to raise spending above that level, even though Trump has repeatedly demanded that all NATO members increase military spending to 5 percent. Hungary also planned a defense spending of 2 percent in this year's budget.
When it comes to nuclear cooperation, Slovakia signed an agreement with the United States last month, and Fico said that the American company Westinghouse will likely build a new nuclear power plant.
He added that, after meeting this week with the head of the French nuclear engineering company Framat, he would welcome the participation of more companies in the project.
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