Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico claims that the President of the European Commission "overwhelmed" him with criticism, following a phone call he had with US President Donald Trump at a time when tariffs on EU products were imposed by Washington.
Fico referred to an explosive phone call he had earlier this Monday with Von der Leyen.
The Slovak leader claims that Von der Leyen belittled him and called him an "idiot." "We discussed two issues," Fico said, adding that the first was Trump's tariffs against Europe.
"Robert, what did you do? Why exactly did you negotiate with Trump? Are you completely lost?" were von der Leyen's words, as Fico claims.
"She belittled me for half an hour, telling me I was a big idiot," the Slovak prime minister added.
At the same time, Fico says he expressed his surprise to the EC President about the fact that Macron can talk to Trump, while he cannot.
"He was in Washington with Trump, so he's the good guy and I'm the bad guy?" the Slovak prime minister asked.
He also said that Europe is expecting " a big surprise on April 2nd ," when Trump's tariffs take effect, " but we don't yet know how big it will be ."
However, the Slovak prime minister later retracted his statement, saying that the debate with Von der Leyen was a joke that " not everyone understood ." (A2 Televizion)
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