US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began a week-long tour across Central Europe yesterday.
The visits to Hungary, Slovakia and Poland intend to make up for a lack of US engagement that opened the door to more Chinese and Russian influence in the region, according to Euronews.
The visit marks one of the first appearances of a senior American official in the region in years. The Hungarian capital last saw a secretary of state in 2011 when Hillary Clinton visited. In Slovakia, it will be the first such high-level visit in 20 years.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Hungary that Russia is seeking to divide the West, saying the United States should not let Russian President Vladimir Putin "drive a wedge between friends and NATO."
Speaking in Budapest, Pompeo also said yesterday that the United States has not done enough to be engaged in central Europe and wants to do more going forward.
Pompeo's Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, said any criticism Washington has of Hungary's diplomacy with Russia is misguided as other European countries are also involved in energy deals with Russia. He also said that Budapest is fulfilling its obligations to Western nations as a member of the NATO military alliance.
Hungary gets most of its gas from Russia and the Russian state corporation Rosatom is involved in a multi-billion dollar project to expand Hungary's Pak nuclear power plant which provides much of Hungary with electricity.
According to the Voice of America (VOA), U.S. officials say Pompeo's tour to central Europe, which also includes stops in Slovakia and Poland, is an attempt to re-engage in a region that has seen a growing engagement by Russia and China.
"The United States is committed to increasing our diplomatic, military, commercial and cultural engagement with Central Europe in order to strengthen this region’s ties with the West as it faces increased pressure from Russia and China," the US State Department said in press release.
