Munich (Germany) (AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure a nervous Europe on Saturday, saying Washington wanted to recharge the transatlantic alliance so a strong Europe could help the United States on its mission of global “renewal”. Speaking at a security conference in Munich after months of turmoil in US-European relations sparked by President Donald Trump’s vows to seize Greenland and his often derisive remarks about allies, Washington’s top diplomat struck a markedly soothing tone.
“We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history,” Rubio said, calling for “a reinvigorated alliance.” He emphasized, “We want Europe to be strong,” adding that the continent and the United States “belong together.” He echoed the Trump administration’s oft-stated assertion that immigration poses a threat, stating that “mass migration” is “a crisis which is transforming and destabilising societies all across the West.” Rubio asserted that Europe and the United States were “heirs to the same great and noble civilisation” and expressed hope that Europe “together with us are willing and able to defend it.”
Aside from immigration, Rubio largely avoided the MAGA flashpoint and culture-war issues that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday had deepened a “rift” between the US and Europe. Rubio’s speech marked a sharp contrast to that of US Vice President JD Vance a year ago, when he used the same stage to attack European policies on a range of issues, shocking European allies. The Trump administration has also charged that Europe faces a “civilisational decline,” and has courted far-right parties on the continent. Ties plunged last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.
Rubio was scheduled to travel to Slovakia and Hungary, European countries run by nationalist leaders endorsed by Trump. Some breathed a sigh of relief after Rubio’s speech, with Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur telling AFP: “It was needed to show that we are still allies and partners.” However, others expressed skepticism, with former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis saying: “It was simply delivered in more polite terms. I am not sure the white paint will hold.”
European leaders at the Munich Security Conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared NATO defenses, emphasizing the essential need for Europe to counter a hostile Russia. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering, “Europe needs to step up and has to take on its responsibility” for its security, including closer ties with Britain 10 years after Brexit. British leader Keir Starmer echoed this sentiment, stating, “We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” and called to build “a shared industrial base across Europe which can turbocharge our defence production.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte informed reporters that although France and Britain, Europe’s only nuclear powers, have discussed greater cooperation to enhance their nuclear deterrence, “nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States.”
The high-powered Munich meeting of government leaders, diplomats, defence and intelligence chiefs comes shortly before Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine is set to enter its fifth gruelling year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lamented that political efforts to end the war have not been successful. “Weapons evolve faster than political decisions meant to stop them,” he said, calling for speedier arms deliveries for Ukraine’s Western-supplied air defense systems. He noted that “there is not a single power plant in Ukraine that is not damaged by Russian strikes,” after Russia intensified its attacks on infrastructure in recent months amid the coldest snap since the war began in February 2022.
Zelensky warned, “No one in Ukraine believes (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will ever let our people go, but he will not let other European nations go either, because he cannot let go of the very idea of war.” At the White House on Friday, Trump urged Kyiv to “get moving” to end the war, stating, “Russia wants to make a deal…(Zelensky) has to move.” However, Rubio, who met Zelensky on the sidelines in Munich, stated on Saturday: “We don’t know if the Russians are serious about ending the war.”
© 2024 AFP
