International News

China nixes meeting with Slovak PM: Bratislava

BRATISLAVA, Nov 6, (APP/AFP) – China cancelled a top-level bilateral meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday, the government in Bratislava said, in a move seen as a snub after the EU country’s president met the Dalai Lama. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang met 16 counterparts from across central and eastern Europe in Lativa’s capital Riga on Saturday for talks focused mainly on developing trade. The Chinese leader had been scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Fico, who is also steering Slovakia’s six-month rotating presidency of the European Union until the end of December. “The Chinese side cancelled the bilateral meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, scheduled ahead of today’s summit,” the Slovak government was quoted as saying Saturday by the local SITA newswire.