US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a two-day trip to Eastern Europe on Sunday to strengthen ties with Slovakia and Hungary, whose conservative leaders, often at odds with other European Union countries, have warm ties with President Donald Trump.
Rubio will use the trip to discuss energy cooperation and bilateral issues, including NATO commitments, the State Department said in a statement last week.
"These are countries that are very strong with us, very cooperative with the United States, work very closely with us," Rubio told reporters before departing for Europe on Thursday.
Rubio, who in his dual role also serves as Trump's national security adviser, met with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Sunday upon his arrival in Bratislava, the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state in seven years, and discussed energy and defense.
“An important topic of the talks was… defense cooperation and the fulfillment of commitments stemming from NATO summits,” Pellegrini’s office said in a statement.
Rubio later met with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who visited Trump in Florida last month. The US diplomat's trip follows his attendance at the Munich Security Conference in recent days.
On Monday, Rubio is expected to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, who is trailing in most polls ahead of elections in April, when he could be ousted from power.
“President Trump said he’s very supportive, and so are we,” Rubio said ahead of his trip. “But we would definitely do that visit as a bilateral visit.”
Orban, one of Trump's closest allies in Europe, is seen by many on the American far right as a model for the US president's tough policies on immigration and support for families and Christian conservatism. Budapest has consistently hosted Conservative Political Action Conference events, which bring together conservative activists and leaders, with another expected in March.
