Slovak PM Fico reportedly shocked by Trump’s state of mind during visit to Mar-a-Lago
Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shocked by the disturbing state of mind of US President Donald Trump when Fico visited his national conservative ally at his private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Politico reported, referring to anonymous sources in EU diplomacy.
According to the report, Fico shared his experience from the recent US visit with EU diplomats during the EU Brussels summit on January 22. Fico “was concerned about the US president’s “psychological state”, two of the diplomats said,” Politico wrote, adding that “Fico used the word “dangerous” to describe how the US president came across during their face-to-face meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate”.
The Slovak strongman visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in mid-January while on a trip to the US to sign a civil nuclear cooperation deal between Slovakia and the US, as bne IntelliNews reported earlier.
The two national conservative leaders have curried favour with each other ever since Trump’s return to the White House. Both of them have attacked the EU for its green policies, and have been criticised for being pro-Russian.
Despite employing aggressive rhetoric against Brussels to please his domestic electorate following the radicalisation of his Smer party, Fico is known for using much calmer and more diplomatic language in Brussels, and is reportedly making efforts not to sever ties with the EU and to avoid falling into full isolation inside the bloc.
Politico wrote that the Slovak PM “made his remarks in a separate informal huddle between some leaders and chief EU officials rather than during the formal roundtable talks”.
Politico, which is known for having sources inside Brussels policy circles, added that “Fico seemed to be “traumatised” by his encounter with Trump”, and that “Fico characterised Trump as being “out of his mind”.
Fico as well as the White House were quick to deny the statements reported by Politico, and the Slovak PM even accused Politico of lying, stating on his Facebook social media profile that “no one heard anything, no one saw anything, there are no witnesses, but nothing prevented Politico portal from coming up with lies”.
Fico also accused Politico of “destroying constructive relations, which Slovakia has in all four world directions,” including “the Slovak Republic’s interest to diversify its peace nuclear programme and cooperating with the USA as well”.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly attacked the Politico story as “absolutely total fake news from anonymous European diplomats who are trying to be relevant”.
No comments:
Post a Comment