FT: European Leaders Greeted Rubio's Speech In Munich With An Ovation
- 15.02.2026, 11:59
The level of optimism has increased compared to last year.
When U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the stage at the annual Munich Security Conference, he saturated his address with words of comfort, extolling the "unbreakable bond" between the United States and Europe dating back to the arrival of European settlers on the American continent. "We will always be the children of Europe," he said.
A crowd of European leaders, ministers and senior officials stood up to applaud, but it was out of pure relief rather than admiration, the Financial Times reported. The first 13 months of Donald Trump's second term as US president have reportedly triggered the biggest crisis in transatlantic relations in decades.
His aggressive foreign policy and a "do-or-die" approach to relations with allies are spooking longtime US partners in Europe and undermining an eight-decade-old security pact. And while Rubio's tone was more polite than the denunciatory tirade U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance delivered on the same stage a year earlier, the essence of the U.S. message was little changed.
Rubio repeated the administration's talking points, including criticizing European energy policy for "appeasing a climate cult" while "impoverishing its own people" and saying mass migration was creating the prospect of "erasing civilization."
"Rubio is the best we can hope for from this [U.S.] administration. But he did make it quite clear: if the transatlantic relationship is not broken, it is quite different from what we are used to," said a senior European minister in the audience.
"Shock therapy" for Europe
European officials noted that in many ways, Vance's 2025 speech was easier to digest because it was so overtly aggressive that it provided unity in Europe's response. The nuances in Rubio's speech made it harder to assess the threat, they argue.
"That's the thing: Once you break something, it's not easy to put it back together. It's nice that [Rubio] reached out instead of poking us in the eye with his finger ... but nothing has changed," said one European minister in the audience.
Speaking immediately after Rubio, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made clear that despite the change in rhetoric, U.S.-European relations remain fundamentally strained. Europe has undergone "shock therapy," she said. "Some lines have been crossed that can no longer be 'crossed back'. The European way of life, our democratic foundations and the trust of our citizens are being tested in new ways."
The officials noted that Rubio's softer tone has allowed optimistic voices in Europe to promote the idea that business as usual ("business as usual") is still possible. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte tried to smooth things over by explaining why Rubio ignored the meeting on the Ukraine issue. The NATO secretary general blamed it on scheduling mismatches and "other important matters" of the US diplomat.
"The states have to take care of the whole world, not just Europe. They can't go broke. I take this with full understanding," Rutte said.
Greenland Factor
The annual event in Munich has become something of a test of the health of the transatlantic relationship. This year, it came just weeks after Trump threatened (and then backtracked) on potential military action to seize Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.
It was the most extreme example in a string of events straining relations, following Trump's tariffs against European countries last year and his support for euroskeptics in recent EU elections. The seemingly insurmountable differences between the US and Europe are most visible on the issue of Ukraine and the approach to US-led peace talks, the media outlet said.
The piece said that while Trump is demanding that Ukraine make concessions to advance talks, European capitals say he should put pressure on Russia - either by increasing military support for Kiev or imposing new sanctions on Moscow. European leaders in Munich even pushed Rutte in particular to be firmer with the US on peace talks and not to support Trump's approach.
"It is in Russia's hands to stop [the war]. But it is also in our hands. And it is America, Europe and Ukraine together that can make [Russia] stop it," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the conference.
The scale of concern is such that even Germany - a country that has always rejected Paris' offers to join the French nuclear umbrella and counted on the US atomic shield - is considering a change of course. Merz announced that he had "initiated talks" with French President Emmanuel Macron about a nuclear deterrent on the continent.
Anxiety also reigns in European capitals that the Trump administration fundamentally dislikes the EU as an institution and would prefer to deal with individual states - an approach that many in Europe believe undermines decades of European integration meant to bring peace and prosperity.
And yet, after a year of turbulence from Washington, much of the European security and defense community was willing to view the glass as half full rather than half empty, journalists note.