The second day of the annual Munich Security Conference began with a highly anticipated speech from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. European leaders, remembering the strong criticisms from last year’s gathering by Vice President JD Vance, hoped for a more diplomatic tone from Rubio, whom they largely viewed as a practical partner on security issues, despite broader disagreements with the Trump administration’s policies.
The conference’s first day saw European leaders discussing new visions for the transatlantic alliance, suggesting a need for less reliance on the United States for defense and trade. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opened by calling for an updated intercontinental friendship, implying that Washington had strayed from its path. He argued that under the Trump administration’s second term, America’s global leadership had been “challenged, and possibly squandered.” Merz highlighted the departure of Trump’s policies from values traditionally shared with Europe, such as opposition to hate speech, climate action, and free trade. French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed concerns, stating that Europe had been unfairly “vilified” on issues like immigration and free speech – veiled references to the Trump administration. Despite these tensions, a degree of optimism remained for the continued partnership and mutual dependence between the United States and Europe, with EU diplomat Kaja Kallas emphasizing Europe’s vital role for American global influence.
Rubio’s schedule in Munich included several private meetings with high-ranking officials from European nations, China, and Syria. He engaged with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland to discuss President Trump’s continued interest in acquiring Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. The ongoing Ukraine war was also a key discussion point, with German Chancellor Merz underscoring its urgency. During his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Rubio reiterated U.S. support for a stable Syria that safeguards the rights of all its ethnic and religious minority groups.
Rubio’s address to the conference, billed as “The U.S. in the World,” was observed by several American lawmakers. His tone was notably more diplomatic than that of Vice President JD Vance’s speech the previous year, which had been met with widespread disapproval from European attendees.
He commenced by recalling the unified American and Western European effort against communist nations during the Cold War, celebrating the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. However, he cautioned against a subsequent “dangerous delusion” that suggested the world would become a safe place “without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.” Rubio posited that this “foolish idea” disregarded human nature and historical lessons, resulting in significant costs. He specifically criticized this globalized citizenship concept, linking it to misunderstandings of adversarial nations and an “unprecedented wave of mass migration” fueled by open borders. He also suggested that such mass migration posed an “urgent threat to the fabric of our societies and the survival of our civilization itself,” echoing previous administration rhetoric on “civilizational erasure” for both the US and Europe, reflecting a decidedly right-wing perspective.
Rubio emphasized the profound “spiritual and cultural” ties connecting the United States and Europe, asserting that “The fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.” He articulated America’s desire to “revitalize an old friendship” and foster a “reinvigorated alliance.” However, he also called for a new vision for Western nations, promoting reindustrialization and collaboration in emerging fields such as commercial space travel, artificial intelligence, and critical mineral supply chains. He stressed the importance of allies being self-sufficient in defense to deter potential adversaries and urged them not to be “paralyzed by fears of climate change and new technology.” While he acknowledged Europe’s rich cultural contributions, from ancient academic institutions to iconic music groups, he conspicuously avoided mentioning the role of non-Western immigration in shaping these cultures.
Upon the conclusion of Rubio’s speech, Wolfgang Ischinger, the conference chairman, noted a palpable “sigh of relief” in the room, drawing a clear contrast to the negative reception of Vice President Vance’s previous address.
Other key issues addressed at the conference included:
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Ukraine: Marco Rubio did not attend a meeting between European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, amid ongoing, slow-moving negotiations between Ukraine and Russian officials in Geneva.
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Greenland: Discussions continued with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland regarding President Trump’s intentions for an expanded U.S. presence in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, which Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to own.
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Nuclear weapons: Despite U.S. officials reaffirming commitment to providing a nuclear shield for NATO allies, Germany’s Chancellor Merz revealed that his country had begun talks with France, a nuclear power, to establish a European nuclear deterrent independent of American support, as a contingency plan.
Rubio also made a somewhat incongruous reference to German immigrants having “dramatically improved the quality of our beer,” a comment that lacked clear connection to his broader anti-immigration arguments or the asserted threat to Western civilization. Furthermore, his focus on the European ancestry of American colonialists and the “cowboy archetype” in North America notably omitted any discussion of indigenous peoples.