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Secretary Rubio Holds a Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister Fico in Bratislava, Feb. 15, 2026

February 15, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:50:39

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What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a joint press availability with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on February 15, 2026, following up on their Florida meeting with President Trump weeks earlier, according to the State Department broadcast. Fico stressed mutual respect and Slovakia’s “sovereign Slovak foreign policy,” and reported that the U.S.–Slovakia intergovernmental agreement on nuclear energy cooperation had entered into force on February 13; Slovakia, he said, wants a multinational consortium under a U.S. partner to build a new 1,200-megawatt nuclear block by 2040, with specific Westinghouse agreements possible within the following year. On energy, Fico described Slovakia’s exposure as EU rules end eastern gas flows from November 2027, and on Ukraine he offered Slovakia — a neighbor that “understands the language” — as a helper in any peace initiative, while expecting no short-term settlement.

Rubio said the United States views its role as “trying to facilitate an end to a very deadly, very bloody, very costly war,” and thanked Fico for a viewpoint “informed by both your geography and by your history.” He pointed to energy and artificial intelligence as joint opportunities, noted Slovakia’s F-16 program, and answered the burden-sharing debate directly: “the stronger our allies are, the stronger we are collectively.” He closed by pledging that under President Trump, “this administration is going to make not just Slovakia but Central Europe a key component of how we engage the continent and the world.” Questions covered NATO, Iran, Venezuela, U.S. alliances and the Russia–Ukraine war, Greenland, Syria and energy, per the broadcast’s chapter markers.

Why it matters

The Bratislava availability records the administration’s Central Europe doctrine in the Secretary’s own words — sovereign partners, concrete nuclear and defense cooperation, and stronger allies as a stronger alliance — alongside a dated nuclear milestone: the bilateral agreement in force as of February 13, 2026.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio Holds a Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister Fico in Bratislava” (official upload, embedded above); remarks as delivered 2026-02-15; transcript via state.gov as linked in the upload description and reviewed in the site’s private research store.