Fico at CPAC: Europe needs a diversity of opinions

Europe today needs a diversity of opinions because the politics of a single “correct” opinion is destroying it, and those who go “against the tide” are marginalized and punished, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on Friday. He also emphasized that he looked forward to working with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Fico stated that he was surprised by the behaviour of the European Union and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who, in his view, “have been pushing for war in Ukraine for three years” and are now trying to “push” peace talks between the United States and Russia.

He also mentioned his meeting with Elon Musk, the head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which, according to Fico, plans to abolish the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Fico claimed that USAID had funded media and NGOs in Slovakia, which, thanks to these funds, had become active anti-government participants in the political struggle without any “political accountability to the citizens.”

He concluded his speech by stating that, like the new U.S. administration, Slovakia wants fair and reciprocal relations between countries. He called on the United States to cooperate and seek solutions to resolve differences of opinion without resorting to tariffs, which could trigger a spiral of retaliatory measures.

Source: TASR