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Pompeo in Slovakia on latest stop to curb Russia, China
BRATISLAVA, Feb 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on
Tuesday visited Slovakia on the latest stop on a Central European tour aimed
at curbing the growing influence of Russia and China.
Pompeo, the first US secretary of state to visit Slovakia in 14 years, will
meet President Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini and a group of
students on the half-day stop in Bratislava.
He arrived from Hungary, the most pro-Russia member of the European Union,
where he raised concerns to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government both
over widening ties with Moscow and Budapest’s contract with Chinese telecom
giant Huawei to develop the country’s fifth-generation mobile network.
A senior US official said that Pompeo had a similar message in Slovakia,
which is heavily dependent on energy imports from Russia.
“The overall goal in Central Europe you can see as an analogue to our Asia-
Pacific strategy — it emphasises in vulnerable regions where our rivals, the
Chinese and the Russians, are gaining ground that we want to increase our
diplomatic, military and cultural engagement,” the official told reporters
travelling with Pompeo.
He said that the United States was also looking across the region to
provide more support to boost an independent media, amid concerns about an
erosion of press freedom.
In Hungary, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto welcomed Pompeo’s calls for
closer ties and promised more defence cooperation but also brushed off the
criticism on relations with Russia and China.
He said that Western concerns on Hungary’s ties with Moscow amounted to
“enormous hypocrisy” as Western European nations were doing the energy deals
with Russia.
Pompeo heads later Tuesday to Poland, where he is co-hosting a conference
on the Middle East that will promote President Donald Trump’s hard line on
Iran and strong support for Israel.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1558 hrs