Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, has unsettled Washington after suggesting that Russian firms could take part in building a new nuclear power station in the country – despite sweeping Western sanctions against Moscow and the deepening confrontation over Ukraine.
Fico, a populist leader whose government has long maintained ambiguous ties with both East and West, told reporters after a recent meeting with Vladimir Putin in China that he would “welcome US–Russian cooperation” on the planned Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear plant. He added that he would encourage Russian companies to establish contacts with the US reactor maker Westinghouse, which Bratislava had previously chosen as a partner.
The remarks have raised eyebrows in Washington. Diplomats speaking to Slovak outlet Denník N said the US considered any cooperation with Russian nuclear firms out of the question – not even in the form of subcontracting. “Americans as a whole – and Westinghouse in particular – are extremely sensitive to the risk of losing know-how and intellectual property,” one Slovak nuclear industry expert told the paper.
