United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has no intention of abandoning its deep alliance with Europe.
At the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Rubio said the U.S deeply cares for the future of both regions and wants Europe to be strong.
“We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve, for us, as history’s great reminder, that ultimately, our destiny is, and will always be, intertwined with yours,” he said.
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Europe for being too reliant on the U.S. for its security and pushed NATO allies to boost defence spending.
Rubio’s words also follow Trump’s ongoing pursuit of Greenland, which has rattled European leaders in recent months.
“We do not need to abandon the system of international cooperation we authored, and we don’t need to dismantle the global institutions of the old order that together we built. But these must be reformed. These must be rebuilt,” Rubio said.
Rubio also said it was U.S. leadership that has succeeded in resolving issues like the Israel-Gaza conflict and made progress ending the Russia-Ukraine war, something the UN has not done.
“The United Nations still has tremendous potential to be a tool for good in the world, but we cannot ignore that today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role. It could not solve the war in Gaza,” Rubio said.
Rubio’s words contrast with Vice President JD Vance’s at the same conference last year, where he spoke of the “retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America”.
Some European policymakers welcomed Rubio’s remarks, but still met them with caution.
″[Rubio] delivered a speech which still assured us that we stand together in this partnership between Europe and the United States,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told CNBC in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.
“Of course, there are some questions which we will have to discuss, but in the end of the day, his message was clear that we were so successful in the past, and we should do the job once again with new threats, with new tests in the 21st century.”
Some conference members pointed out that the underlying issues of Rubio’s words were the same as those in Vance’s message the previous year.
“Of course, there were some issues he raised,” Wadephul said.
“We would answer differently when it comes to the migration problem, when it comes, of course, to question how we organise our legal framework here in Europe with regard to the digital services. And of course, also with the question of freedom of speech and so.”
EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said that it's important that Europe and America remain intertwined, but that there are still issues to work on.
“It is also clear that we don’t see eye-to-eye in all the issues and that this will remain the case. But I think we can work from there,” Kallas said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the U.S. in its fight against Russia.
“I am grateful to every American heart that was helping us no matter what. Thank you. Without you, Americans, Europeans and everyone who stands with us, it would have been very, very difficult to hold on,” Zelenskyy said.
