MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte tries to make everything Russian a bogeyman for the Europeans, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Slovakia Tibor Gaspar said in an interview with TASS.
"This is a certain bogeyman for the Europeans," he said, commenting on Rutte’s words that the EU will have to "learn how to speak Russian" in 4-5 years, unless NATO member states refuse to increase their military spending.
"There was a time in history when we were under the USSR’s influence. Therefore this issue is being used today in a bid to create a negative attitude towards Russia," Gaspar said.
"We had talks with State Duma Speaker [Vyacheslav Volodin], which could be praised quite highly. He said that relations must be balanced and equal," the official said.
He pointed out that the Russian-Slovak relations focus on, first and foremost, "economic cooperation, development of ties in cultural and sports areas based on the principle of equals."
"I must say that it has long stopped being relevant that we seek to enter Russia’s area of influence. We are in the center of Europe, Slovakia’s place is there, but we want to protect our national interests to the maximum degree," Gaspar added.