US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to commence a two-day visit on Sunday to strengthen relations with Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders frequently disagree with other European Union nations but maintain friendly relations with President Donald Trump, according to reports.
Rubio plans to address energy collaboration and bilateral matters, including NATO obligations, during the trip, as stated by the State Department in an announcement last week.
"These are nations that have a strong partnership with us, collaborate effectively with the United States, and maintain close ties; it's a great chance to visit them, including two countries I’ve never visited," Rubio informed reporters prior to his departure for Europe on Thursday.
Rubio, acting as Trump's national security adviser in addition to his other role, is scheduled to meet Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on Sunday. Fico visited Trump in Florida the previous month. The visit by the US diplomat comes after his involvement in the Munich Security Conference in recent days.
On Monday, Rubio is anticipated to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, who is behind in most polls before an April election that could result in his removal from power.
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Rubio stated that the President is quite supportive of him, and we are as well. Clearly, we intended to conduct that visit as a bilateral engagement.
Orban, a key ally of Trump in Europe, is viewed by many within the American far-right as a blueprint for the U.S. president's stringent immigration policies and advocacy for families and Christian conservative values.
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Budapest has consistently been the venue for Conservative Political Action Conference events, uniting conservative leaders and activists, with another scheduled for March.
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Hungary and Slovakia have also deviated from Trump's demand for all NATO countries to greatly boost their military expenditures to 5percent of GDP, opting instead to raise defense spending to NATO's minimum requirement of 2percent, which is lower than that of certain other NATO nations