Rubio’s Munich Civility Is a False Dawn for Europe
Marco Rubio’s politeness at the Munich Security Conference shouldn’t fool Europe.
Photographer: Alex Brandon/AFP/Getty Images
The European audience for US Secretary of State Marco Rubio drew a collective sigh of relief at the reassuring message he delivered at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday — at least according to his German host and moderator, Wolfgang Ischinger. If that was indeed the response, it would be a mistake.
The bar for improvement was low, after the contemptuous scolding that Vice President JD Vance delivered from the same podium a year ago, and for sure Rubio crossed it. Vance had accused Europe of abandoning the shared values, including democracy and free speech, that bind the transatlantic alliance together, with the clear implication that the continent had become irrelevant. Since that rhetorical broadside, Donald Trump’s administration has only given flesh to the rupture Vance described: withdrawing US aid for Ukraine’s defense; issuing a new National Security Strategy that talks of Europe’s “civilizational erasure”; and threatening to seize Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.