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Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residency in Florida on Saturday, aiming to deepen ties between the two countries.
Fico, who is politically aligned with the MAGA agenda, has praised the US for its efforts to end the war in Ukraine and follows a similar hardline approach to migration.
Separately, the two leaders could discuss plans that would see Slovakia entering a business agreement to buy nuclear reactors from the US in a project that could be worth around €13 to €15 billion, according to Slovak media.
Fico’s ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced similar plans when he visited Trump last November. Just like Hungary, Slovakia is one few EU countries that is still connected to Russian energy despite efforts from the bloc to unplug from Moscow.
The Slovak government wants to conduct talks with the US company Westinghouse about the construction of the nuclear site, according to local media.
Last year, a controversial US national security document argued the EU is facing civilisational erasure if it does not reverse course from its current policies and vowed to foster ties with what it described as “patriotic forces” resisting Brussels from within.
Fico’s political stance is aligned with Trump’s agenda in multiple ways despite his socialist background. Fico is highly critical of illegal migration, the EU institutions and its environmental policies and maintains bilateral ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Still, Fico was critical of the US military intervention in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture and arrest of strongman Nicolás Maduro, arguing in favour of international law.
“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.