Washington: United States President Donald Trump and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini has on Friday congratulated each other on their respective nation’s economic strength.
Slovakia PM who arrived Washington DC marked the latest central European leader’s official visit to the White House as the US works in the region as a counterbalance to China and Russia, according to Dawn news reports.
Pellegrini stated the US president has been much clear that European Union (EU) countries must do more on the defence sector, and stressed Slovakia is on to it. He said his nation was already ahead of schedule in order to hike defence spending by 2 per cent of the gross national product. He said, “By 2022, we will be on that number.”
Trump praised Pellegrini’s nation’s efforts to boost defence spending, stating “you’ve been with us all the way”. Trump noted Slovakia’s inking of a deal to purchase 14 F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, as Slovakia has been seeking to replace Soviet-tenure fighter jets.
“It’s a very big order, actually,” Trump said. “I’m very impressed.”