Name: Marco Rubio says US and Europe 'belong together' at Munich Security Conference | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-02-14T17:04:53.000Z
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The US Secretary of State has told the Munich Security Conference that America is seeking to revitalize its alliance with European countries.

Adverbs of degree

Marco Rubio said the US Would always be a child of Europe and insisted that his country wanted to preserve that relationship rather than end it.

He was present on Friday when the leaders of Germany and France warned of frictions in the transatlantic alliance.

Rubio also used his address on Saturday to criticize what he called mass migration, saying it had cost Western countries dearly.

These are live pictures from the press conference where in a moment we are expecting to hear from Zakir Starmer and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

We will bring that as soon as that happens.

We're listening to the Chinese front foreign minister there at the moment.

But let's go straight to my colleague, colleague Kasha Madeira, who is in Munich for us.

And Kasia, a really interesting speech from Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State.

Nobody quite knew what to expect after last year, but the tone, incredibly different this year.

Yeah, really conciliatory, Very, very different to what was expected last year.

You've got to say that actually the Europeans were bracing themselves.

We heard from the German Chancello, Chancellor Frederick Mertz yesterday, really talking about Europe needing to start acting up about securing and guaranteeing its security.

They were already saying that actually Europeans will have to sacrifice, will have to have a sacrifice because they need to bolster their security.

So they already braced for something from Marco Rubio.

But what we heard today was very, very conciliatory.

He was very offering that olive branch to Europeans, reminding Europe of the shared history of the United States and Europe.

So a really different tone, but if you read between the lines, actually

the messaging is consistent with what we've been hearing from the Trump administration all along.

He was pretty, pretty straight when it comes to migration.

He was very straight when it comes to border control.

He said it was, it was important, it was critical to stop sovereignty.

He said it wasn't xenophobic, but it was important to the sovereignty of a nation state.

And when it comes to the eu, of course, we know that you can travel without borders here.

Once you're within the eu, that's going to jar somewhat with the whole ethos of the European Union.

Now we're going to expect secure Starmer to be up next.

And when it comes to things like these kind of huge conferences, the Munich Security Conference, one of the oldest, certainly the biggest, with some of the largest number of world leaders.

So we're going to see Sakir Starmer up on stage with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission.

And that shows, sends that image that when it comes to the uk, the European Union, they are together.

Contrast that with Marco Rubio on his own on the stage.

However, like we were saying, the Met, this tone of the speech from Marco Rubio, totally different to what we heard from J. D.

It was silent in the conference hall last year after the Vice President of the United States gave his speech.

Today, we heard even some laughs, a round of applause much, much more conciliatory, a totally different mood.

But at the heart of all of this, the key issues still remain.

The war is raging in Ukraine, Marco Rubio himself saying that he doesn't know what Russia, whether it's genuinely wanting to have a cease fire.

Vladimir Zelinsky, of course, here he wants to move things forward.

But we were hearing from a commentator just earlier on saying that actually Marco Rubio missed a meeting with the Europeans about Ukraine.

Everybody reading everything into the smallest details here.

But what is also important as those back conversations, those meetings behind closed doors that we're not privy to, because that's when all the, the real conversations are thrashed out.

But what is really interesting to see is how the Europeans are also perhaps a little bit torn, because we know that Emmanuel Macron yesterday was giving his speech and he was saying, look, Europe, you've got so much, we've got so much to be proud of.

But we also know that Mark Rossa, the head of NATO, has said that without a US backstop, NATO is really harmed.

And when it comes to the US Secretary of State, I think he really achieved that balance in terms of the tone of his speech.

Yeah, there was a lot of sort of flattery in there, wasn't there?

You know, talking, you know, about the wonderful cultural importance of, of Europe, what it's given to the world, Shakespeare listing, all sorts, you know, Mozart, Beethoven, all the rest of it.

So it was a real sort of love letter from the US to Europe, but

at the same time saying, we want to go further with you together, but

if you're not willing to stand up on your own two feet, then in a sense you're on your own.

also, we love you, we want to go forward with you, but

Well, a little bit of echoing from what we heard from Emmanuel Macron last night.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, saying, you know, we need to be proud of Europe.

Marco Rubio arguably picking up on that, reminding of the ties between Europe and the U. S.

the historical ties, if you think about the background to the formation of the United States, also a little joke saying that thanks to the Europeans, the US has better beer.

There was silence in the auditorium when J. D. vance was speaking.

a love letter with undertones that are not so much threatening, not so much menacing, but

a reminder that, yeah, sure, we are allies, but we need our allies to be strong.

And that has always been the consistent messaging from the Trump administration that we need the Europeans to be strong.

So therefore, put your hands in your pocket, start spending on defence, start spending, if you're a NATO member, 5% of your GDP.

There are only a handful of countries who are doing that already when it comes to eu, NATO member states.

So there's a lot for the Europeans still to do.

And Marco Rubio, very elegantly, very gently, with a lot of love around the sides, reminding Europe that it really needs to pull its weight.

So the Munich Security Conference, a historical conference that is all about the transatlantic alliance, is reconfiguring itself because that transatlantic alliance has shifted somewhat.

But just a reminder, there is another side to this.

We're talking about Gavin Newsom, the California of governor, also Alexandria Ortizio Cortez, representative of New York.

They're here to remind the Europeans that Trump is not forever.

There could potentially be a new government coming in.

And the Democrats are pushing for their messaging to be heard here as well.