United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a keynote address at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on Friday, urging a revitalized transatlantic alliance while sharply criticizing European migration policies and what he called the broken international status quo. Speaking before hundreds of world leaders, diplomats, and defense officials at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Rubio declared that Washington and Europe belong together and that the United States has no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline. He held bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines, as Geneva peace talks between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia were confirmed for February 17.
Rubio struck a notably more conciliatory tone than Vice President JD Vance's combative speech at the same conference a year earlier, which had rattled European allies with aggressive attacks on their immigration and free speech policies. The Secretary of State told the audience that the United States does not seek to separate but to revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history. However, he warned of what he called civilizational erasure caused by mass migration and denounced the United Nations as powerless in the face of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, calling the post-Cold War order a dangerous delusion built on the false premise that the world had reached the end of history.
Zelensky addressed a special session of the conference, calling for Europe to build an independent and strong defense industry in partnership with the United States. He presented stark casualty figures, stating that Russia is losing 156 soldiers for every kilometer of territory seized and suffering between 30,000 and 35,000 killed and wounded every month, with total Russian losses since February 2022 exceeding 1.25 million troops. Zelensky also announced first significant results in joint drone production between Ukraine and Germany, and warned that Russia's cooperation with Iran on Shahed drones poses a threat not only to Ukraine but to the entire region.
European leaders used the conference to assert their commitment to strategic autonomy and increased defense spending. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opened the event by declaring that the post-war world order no longer exists and revealing that he has held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron about Germany joining France's nuclear deterrence program. Macron called on Europe to become a geopolitical power and urged Europeans to be proud rather than accept being vilified. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the deployment of a carrier strike group led by the HMS Prince of Wales to the North Atlantic, stating that hard power is the currency of the age. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for activating the EU's mutual defense clause, declaring that mutual defense is not optional but an obligation.
The conference underscored the deepening tensions within the Western alliance as Europe grapples with the Trump administration's demands for greater defense burden-sharing while simultaneously seeking to reduce its dependence on American military guarantees. Rubio confirmed that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend the Geneva talks on February 17, though he acknowledged that the administration does not know if Russia is serious about ending the war. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted a shift in mindset with Europe stepping up and taking more of a leadership role within the alliance, while also cautioning that Europe cannot realistically defend itself without the United States, a remark that drew pushback from von der Leyen.
Comments