The American Secretary of State points out errors in economic policy and criticizes the opening to mass migration. “We made these mistakes together,” he said in Munich, adding that, together, the US and Europe now owe it to their people to move forward and rebuild. Under Trump, the US intends to take on the task of renewal and restoration. “Although we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, we prefer to do this together with you,” he said, addressing European leaders in the audience
“The United States and Europe belong together,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference, referring to the historic alliance between the US and Europe. “Europe’s fate will never be irrelevant to ours.”
Like Donald Trump, Rubio criticized Europe’s economic policy: while other countries invested in their own economies, we – the West – have increasingly externalized our sovereignty. While competitors invest in oil, the West invests in policies that impoverish its people. Furthermore, it has also opened up to an unprecedented wave of mass migration, which, according to Marco Rubio, threatens our future. “Mass migration is not, nor has it ever been, a marginal concern with few consequences,” he said, warning that migration is “transforming and destabilizing societies across the West.”
Regarding border security, the Secretary of State stated that the West can prosper, but only if it controls its borders. “This is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hatred. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty, and the failure to do so is not just an abdication of one of our most basic duties to our people. It is an urgent threat to the social fabric and the very survival of our civilization.”
“We made these mistakes together,” he said, adding that, together, the US and Europe now owe it to their people to move forward and rebuild. With Trump, said Marco Rubio, the US intends to take on the task of renewal and restoration. “Although we are prepared, if necessary, to do it alone, we prefer to do it together with you,” he said, addressing the European leaders present in the audience.
Rubio’s speech represents when Vice President JD Vance, on the same stage, launched an attack on European leaders for relying too much on American support and accusing them of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration. but it did not open any doors to cooperation.
“At a time when headlines are announcing the end of the transatlantic era, let it be clear to everyone that this is not our goal or our desire, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be children of Europe,” Rubio said.
“We are part of a single civilization – Western civilization,” he said, adding that Europe and the US are connected both economically and culturally. “Europe needs to survive.” And he received a round of applause when he said: “Our destiny will always be intertwined with yours.”
On the issue of the European-American alliance, Rubio emphasizes: “We don’t want our allies to be weak, because that makes us weaker.”
“We want allies who can defend themselves, so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength. That’s why we don’t want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame. We want allies who are proud of their culture and heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization and who, along with us, are willing and able to defend it. That’s why we don’t want allies who rationalize the broken status quo instead of dealing with what is necessary to correct it. For We in the United States have no interest in being polite, orderly caretakers of the controlled decline of the West,” he said.
In his words, the US wants “a reinvigorated alliance that recognizes that what ails our societies is not just a set of bad policies, but a malaise of hopelessness and complacency.” And he emphasizes: “At a time when headlines announce the end of the transatlantic era, let it be clear to everyone that this is neither our goal nor our desire, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be children of Europe.”
Marco Rubio also stated that, although old international organizations do not need to be dismantled, they need to be to face new challenges. “The United Nations (UN) still has enormous potential to be an instrument for good in the world, but it has not responded to some of today’s most pressing issues”, proving to be “impotent” time and time again, he said, giving as an example the need for the US to achieve a fragile truce in Gaza and American leadership to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.
“In a perfect world, all of these problems and many others would be resolved by diplomats and strong resolutions. But we do not live in a perfect world and we cannot continue to allow those who flagrantly and openly threaten our citizens and endanger our global stability to shelter behind abstractions of international law that they themselves routinely violate.”
Specifically regarding the war in Ukraine, Rubio rejects the moderator’s suggestion that the Russians are not interested in negotiations: “We don’t know,” he stated during the question and answer period. “They say they are, and on what terms they would be willing to negotiate, and whether we can find acceptable terms for Ukraine that Russia will always accept, but we will continue to test.” Meanwhile, the US and Europe must continue to take steps to pressure Russia to negotiate. Rubio guarantees that the US managed to “make progress” in the negotiations and that new discussions are scheduled for Tuesday.
