On Thursday, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanár (Smer-SD) took part in a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO-member states in Brussels. The meeting was attended for the first time by new Secretary of State Marco Rubio. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, and ministers from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand were also to join the individual meetings.
NATO chief Mark Rutte and the new U.S. ambassador sought to reassure European allies on Thursday that Washington will remain committed to the Western military alliance despite harsh words from President Donald Trump. They spoke as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels with Europeans hoping Rubio will dispel doubts about the U.S. stance even with tensions rising over Trump's steep new trade tariffs. As the Reuters press agency put it, European belief in the U.S. as the continent's ultimate protector against any attack from Russia has been severely shaken by Trump’s attempted rapprochement with Moscow and heavy pressure on Kyiv as he seeks to end the war in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described U.S. President Donald Trump's universal tariffs as a major blow to the world economy. She said the EU was already finalising a first package of tariffs on up to 26 billion euros ($28.4 billion) of U.S. goods for mid-April in response to U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs that took effect on March 12. "And we're now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail," von der Leyen said in a statement she read out in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Thursday, ahead of an EU-Central Asia partnership summit. Trump on Wednesday unveiled a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported to the United States, with a higher 20% rate for the European Union. Von der Leyen did not provide details of future EU measures.
US tariffs on imports from Europe will hit Slovakia worse than almost anywhere else in the world, claims the leader of the opposition Progresívne Slovensko, Michal Šimečka, who says that very difficult times await us because we are at risk of losing tens of thousands of jobs in the automotive industry alone.
Source: TASR, SITA, Reuters
