The secretary of state’s speech made many European leaders uneasy, but he still received a standing ovation.
WASHINGTON—The Munich Security Conference wrapped up on Feb. 15, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech is still making waves in the United States and Europe.
At this year’s conference, Rubio delivered a speech on Feb. 14 with a strong warning to European leaders, telling them they have been trapped in a “dangerous delusion” since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rubio said that the “euphoria of this triumph” led to a misguided belief that every country would become a liberal democracy, that borders no longer mattered, and that global trade rules would replace national economic interests.
Rubio’s speech made many European leaders uneasy, but he still received a standing ovation. Observers said his message resembled President Donald Trump’s earlier warnings to Europe, though Rubio delivered it in a more strategic way.
“What we saw in the speech was a masterclass in diplomacy by a U.S. statesman with substantial experience,” Fred Fleitz, who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, told The Epoch Times.
Rubio’s effective strategy, according to Fleitz, was to open his speech by rejecting claims that the Trump administration is anti-Europe, plans to leave NATO, or believes the rules-based global order has ended.
“He just hit that out of the park by explaining that the U.S. and Europe have a long and historic relationship, that we need Europe, that America is ‘a child of Europe,’” said Fleitz, who is now vice chair at the America First Policy Institute.
During his speech, Rubio highlighted the strong historical ties between the United States and Europe, rooted in “shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together.”
Rubio’s speech was considered less confrontational than Vice President JD Vance’s. In February 2025, Vance—in a speech at the same conference—criticized European leaders for clamping down on free speech and allowing mass migration. He said the biggest threat to Europe was “the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values—values shared with the United States of America.”
European leaders welcomed Rubio’s tone.
“There’s a lot in the speech. It’s not just all stick. There’s a good amount of carrot too,” Luke Nichter, professor of presidential studies at Chapman University in Orange, California, told The Epoch Times.
“There’s a big section of the speech where Secretary Rubio really wants Europe to be stronger. He wants Europe to be stronger culturally, economically, and militarily.”
By Emel Akan
