Bratislava, Feb 11 (IANS) Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has unveiled a letter addressed to Elon Musk, head of the US Department of Government Efficiency, requesting details on US grants provided to Slovak non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media outlets.
In the letter shared on Monday on social media, Fico expressed concerns over “the misuse of foreign funds in Slovakia to disadvantage part of the political spectrum,” adding he expects to meet Musk in person, Xinhua news agency reported.
“It’s indisputable that USAID money was used in Slovakia for political purposes, aimed at distorting the political system and favouring certain political parties,” Fico wrote in the letter, adding that “based on incomplete public sources, it’s clear that USAID has supported these entities with grants totalling several million dollars in a relatively short period”.
To distinguish between beneficial projects and what he described as “blatant interference in Slovakia’s internal affairs,” the Slovak PM urged Musk to facilitate access to information regarding grants and funding allocated by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to NGOs, media organisations, and individual journalists in Slovakia.
Moreover, the Prime Minister would also like to discuss with Musk other projects mutually beneficial for Slovak-American relations.
USAID oversaw humanitarian, health care, and emergency programmes in nearly 120 countries around the world and has an annual budget of nearly €43 billion.
The USAID has been a top target of a government reduction overhaul spearheaded by billionaire and Trump ally Musk since the Republican President took office on January 20.
Fico, the leader of the leftist-nationalist government in Slovakia, has long waged a war of words against the pro-Western liberal opposition, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media in his country, accusing them of conspiring against Slovakia.
In January, US President Donald Trump signed a decree suspending all foreign aid provided by USAID for 90 days and later granted several exceptions.
Fico has faced peaceful protests in recent weeks by tens of thousands of people across the central European country for what they see as backsliding on democracy and a turn in foreign policy towards Russia. He has accused organisers of the protests of planning to overthrow the government in a coup, without providing any evidence.
Fico’s letter followed comments by his ally and neighbour Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who said on Friday he would take steps to ensure all aid funding coming from the US to NGOs and media critical of the government is revealed, saying the time had come to “eliminate these foreign networks”.
The Roman Catholic Church’s worldwide charity arm sharply criticised Trump’s cuts to US foreign aid on Monday, saying his plans to end funding for USAID will have a “catastrophic” impact in the developing world.
–IANS
int/khz
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