Odor Raises Concerns about Trump, Erik Kalinak Finds Him Predictable

(STVR, 'Sobotne dialogy', January 18) The inauguration of Donald Trump as President raises concerns about uncertainty, as stated by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and ex-caretaker premier Ludovit Odor (Progressive Slovakia/PS) during STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), while his opponent, MEP Erik Kalinak (Smer-SD), believes Trump is predictable. "During his first term already, Donald Trump attempted to interfere with free trade and tighten protection of the US market," Odor stated, acknowledging a potential security concern. "This stems from his not entirely predictable statements regarding international cooperation and NATO," he explained. On the other hand, Kalinak isn't surprised by Trump’s efforts to significantly strengthen US trade interests, even if it comes at the expense of Europe. "I'm not disturbed by Donald Trump, I'm rather frightened by the fact that there is is Ursula von der Leyen on the other side, the most well-known American lobbyist, who has done the minimum for Europe’s competitiveness so far," Kalinak said. Both MEPs assessed Trump’s demands for NATO member states to increase their defence contributions to five percent of GDP as unrealistic. According to Odor, Europe must focus on increasing the effectiveness of mutual cooperation in defence and security. Kalinak thinks it's time to lift EU's sanctions against Moscow, adding that the sanctions not only failed to make Russia end the war but also damaged the economies of EU-member states, including Slovakia. Both agreed that the Russia-Ukraine conflict must end as soon as possible. Odor appreciated that the Ukrainians remain determined to defend and fight for their country. Kalinak, on the other hand, criticised Zelenskyy's messages to Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) but praised the communication and efforts to maintain good Slovak-Ukrainian relations by Ukrainian Premier Denys Shmyhal. lin