On February 14, 2026, Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, gave an important speech at the Munich Security Conference. He told Europe to change or risk being left behind by the US.
Rubio said that the US and Europe “belong together” and used shared history, Christianity, cultural ties, stricter borders, and new climate policies as reasons for renewal. He said that if Europe doesn’t improve its self-defense and align its values, the US will act alone. He said, “We want allies who can defend themselves so that no enemy will dare to challenge our collective strength.” The speech was very different from the tensions that had come before, like VP JD Vance’s comments in 2025. It was meant to calm things down during the Ukraine and Greenland disputes.
Ursula von der Leyen and Keir Starmer, among other European leaders, praised Rubio’s friendlier tone as a sign of a shared goal and unity across the Atlantic. Organizers said that “wrecking ball politics” was putting Europe on the back burner, and Rubio’s call for value changes sounded a lot like far-right populists challenging centrists. He criticized past policy mistakes, even though people praised him. This marked the start of a “new era of geopolitics” after the old world order.
Rubio’s message is in line with President Trump’s vision for a sovereign, revitalized West that puts working together first but is also ready to act alone. There was no mention of negotiations with Greenland, which could have calmed things down and healed rifts in the alliance that had formed over the past year. The speech makes it clear that Europe needs to do more than just change its budgets; it needs to change its whole value system.
