Live – Munich Security Conference: Rubio evokes civilisational quest to save the West alongside Europe

Onto a Q&A, Rubio answers a question on Ukraine.

The Secretary of State skipped an informal meeting on the conflict yesterday which was attended by multiple European leaders.

According to Rubio, the issues between Russia and Ukraine have “narrowed” but “the hardest questions to answer” remain. He pushes back on the idea Moscow is not interested in negotiations.

The US and Europe should continue to take steps to pressure Russia into negotiations, Rubio says, insisting the US has “made progress” in talks.

Credit- AP

Rubio goes on to offer a brief message of reassurance for European allies, insisting the US does not want to “separate” but to “revitalise” an old friendship.

“In a time of headlines heralding the end of the transatlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans, our home may be in the western hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”

He also references NATO troops, saying the US has “bled and died side by side.” As a reminder, US President Donald Trump sparked anger in January when he undermined the role of NATO troops in Afghanistan, claiming they “stayed a little off the frontlines.”

Rubio has evoked a parallel between what he says was “decline” rejected after 1945 and should be rejected now as well.

“We do not 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. This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame.”

“We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization, and who, together with us, are willing and able to defend it, and this is why we do not want allies to rationalise the broken status quo rather than reckon with what is necessary to fix it.”

According to Rubio, international organisation such as the UN need to be rebuilt and urgently reformed.

The UN, he says, has proven itself “powerless” during key wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

“In a perfect world, all of these problems and more would be solved by diplomats and strongly worded resolutions. But we do not live in a perfect world, and we cannot continue to allow those who blatantly and openly threaten our citizens and endanger our global stability to shield themselves behind abstractions of international law which they themselves routinely violate.”

Marco Rubio has dedicated some of his speech to underline the close links between Europe and the US, such as ““shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry and past sacrifices.”

He lists a number of famous Europeans such as Mozart, Shakespeare and The Beatles as reasons why Europe is special.

He goes on to say, “So this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel. … The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply.”

“We care deeply about your future and ours, and if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected, not just economically, not just militarily, we are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally.”

Marco Rubio was supposed to be a nicer, more polite version of J.D. Vance. But so far, his Munich speech reiterates the same points made by the US vice president last year.

In his speech, he is lambasting the outsourcing sovereignty to multinational institutions, a “climate cult” impoverishing people and mass immigration that is a threat to the cohesion of society.

In a speech heavy on history, Rubio continues with explaining that Europe and the US created a “post-war delusion.”

“We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions, while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves,” he says, whilst calling a “dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade,” a delusion.

“In a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture and the future of our people,” Rubio says.

Rubio has started his speech referencing the history of the Munich Security Conference.

“We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world. When this conference began in 1963 it was in a nation, actually, it was on a continent that was divided against itself. The line between communism and freedom ran through the heart of Germany.”

“At that time, victory was far from certain, but we were driven by a common purpose. We were unified not just by what we were fighting against, we were unified by what we were fighting for,” Rubio says.

“The euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion that we entered ‘the end of history’ and every nation would now be a liberal democracy, that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood, that the rules based global order, an overused term, would now replace the national interest, and that we would now live in a world without borders, where everyone became a citizen of the world.”

“This was a foolish idea.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has taken the floor. Stay tuned.

Peace efforts in Ukraine are top of the agenda at this year’s conference but at a Berlin Format meeting, attended by leaders from a dozen European countries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was a no-show.

My colleague Johanna Urbancik has more.

Good morning and welcome to our live blog on the second day of talks between the world’s top security leaders.

Here’s a quick recap of what stood out yesterday:

• Germany’s Chancellor Merz delivered a dramatic speech which set the tone for the next three days. In it, he said the world order as it has stood for decades “no longer exists” and that a new world order of “power politics” puts even the strongest nations in danger. He dubbed the tension between the EU and the US an “inconvenient truth”, said there was a “divide” between the continents and that “freedom could no longer be taken for granted” against the ongoing threat from Moscow.
• Elsewhere, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz and the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas sparred on spending with Waltz noting that continued payments for international organisations, such as the UN, have become hard to justify to US voters. Kallas told Waltz that “when America goes to wars, then a lot of us go with you, and we lose our people on the way. You also need us.”
• Finally, French President Emmanuel Macron praised Europe in a speech that set out a positive view of what the continent could achieve. He mentioned planning “coexistence” with Russia, a new European nuclear sharing programme and pushed back on the notion that Europe was over-regulating its social media platforms.

First up is US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is set to deliver a speech one year after Vice President J.D.Vance stunned the same conference with a blistering attack on European countries. Stay tuned —we’ll deliver the main lines as we get them.