Slovakia’s Prime MInister Robert Fico reported on his Facebook page that, at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Jan. 17, they focused on “Ukraine, where American representatives were interested in our stance, because they knew we are not Brussels parrots and we express our own views on the war in Ukraine.” Fico said that he placed “the Slovak peace stance” in connection to “other sensitive international events” and that “there was full agreement in viewing the EU as an institution in deep crisis.” He concluded: “The trip to the U.S.A. was another success of ours, as was the case with our visits to Russia, China, and many other countries.”
Both Fico and Trump were shot in attempted assassinations by men caught up in the media’s Russophobia frenzy. Fico described their interchange last Saturday as both “open and informal.”
Fico’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended, according to Slovakia’s TASR press agency. The previous day, the U.S. and Slovakia signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on nuclear energy cooperation, a move that’s expected to open formal talks with Westinghouse Electric Co. Slovakia plans to build a 1,200-MW reactor under state ownership at the existing Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant (NPP), which already has two reactors. Fico stated: “Both countries fully recognize that serious energy challenges cannot be solved through wind turbines or photovoltaics, and that the cornerstone for the future is the rapid development of nuclear energy.”
