Final yr, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance surprised European leaders with a speech on the Munich Safety Convention that accused them of censorship and suppressing free speech. The unorthodox handle served as a impolite awakening to U.S. President Donald Trump’s second time period.
One yr on, on Saturday, Feb. 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the identical viewers with a extra conciliatory message about shared histories and values. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Fee, known as it “reassuring” in a subsequent panel dialogue—though different officers are already murmuring discontent over dismissive references to the United Nations and local weather change, in addition to Rubio’s justification of U.S. use of drive in Venezuela and Iran.
Right here’s the complete transcript of Rubio’s speech:
We collect right here in the present day as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and altered the world. When this convention started in 1963, it was in a nation—truly, it was on a continent—that was divided in opposition to itself. The road between communism and freedom ran by way of the guts of Germany. The primary barbed fences of the Berlin Wall had gone up simply two years prior.
And simply months earlier than that first convention, earlier than our predecessors first met right here, right here in Munich, the Cuban Missile Disaster had introduced the world to the brink of nuclear destruction. Whilst World Struggle II nonetheless burned contemporary within the reminiscence of People and Europeans alike, we discovered ourselves staring down the barrel of a brand new world disaster—one with the potential for a brand new sort of destruction, extra apocalyptic and ultimate than something earlier than within the historical past of mankind.
On the time of that first gathering, Soviet communism was on the march. 1000’s of years of Western civilization hung within the stability. At the moment, victory was removed from sure. However we had been pushed by a typical function. We had been unified not simply by what we had been preventing in opposition to; we had been unified by what we had been preventing for. And collectively, Europe and America prevailed and a continent was rebuilt. Our folks prospered. In time, the East and West blocs had been reunited. A civilization was as soon as once more made complete.
That notorious wall that had cleaved this nation into two got here down, and with it an evil empire, and the East and West turned one once more. However the euphoria of this triumph led us to a harmful delusion: that we had entered, quote, “the tip of historical past;” that each nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties fashioned by commerce and by commerce alone would now exchange nationhood; that the rules-based world order—an overused time period—would now exchange the nationwide curiosity; and that we’d now dwell in a world with out borders the place everybody turned a citizen of the world.
This was a silly concept that ignored each human nature and it ignored the teachings of over 5,000 years of recorded human historical past. And it has value us dearly. On this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic imaginative and prescient of free and unfettered commerce, whilst some nations protected their economies and backed their corporations to systematically undercut ours—shuttering our crops, leading to massive elements of our societies being de-industrialized, delivery thousands and thousands of working and middle-class jobs abroad, and handing management of our essential provide chains to each adversaries and rivals.
We more and more outsourced our sovereignty to worldwide establishments whereas many countries invested in huge welfare states at the price of sustaining the power to defend themselves. This, whilst different international locations have invested in probably the most speedy army buildup in all of human historical past and haven’t hesitated to make use of arduous energy to pursue their very own pursuits. To appease a local weather cult, we have now imposed vitality insurance policies on ourselves which can be impoverishing our folks, whilst our opponents exploit oil and coal and pure gasoline and anything—not simply to energy their economies, however to make use of as leverage in opposition to our personal.
And in a pursuit of a world with out borders, we opened our doorways to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our tradition, and the way forward for our folks. We made these errors collectively, and now, collectively, we owe it to our folks to face these information and to maneuver ahead, to rebuild.
Beneath President Trump, america of America will as soon as once more tackle the duty of renewal and restoration, pushed by a imaginative and prescient of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as important as our civilization’s previous. And whereas we’re ready, if essential, to do that alone, it’s our choice and it’s our hope to do that along with you, our buddies right here in Europe.
For america and Europe, we belong collectively. America was based 250 years in the past, however the roots started right here on this continent lengthy earlier than. The person who settled and constructed the nation of my delivery arrived on our shores carrying the recollections and the traditions and the Christian religion of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable hyperlink between the outdated world and the brand new.
We’re a part of one civilization: Western civilization. We’re sure to at least one one other by the deepest bonds that nations might share, solid by centuries of shared historical past, Christian religion, tradition, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made collectively for the widespread civilization to which we have now fallen inheritor.
And so because of this we People might typically come off as a little bit direct and pressing in our counsel. For this reason President Trump calls for seriousness and reciprocity from our buddies right here in Europe. The explanation why, my buddies, is as a result of we care deeply. We care deeply about your future and ours. And if at occasions we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern a couple of Europe with which we’re related—not simply economically, not simply militarily. We’re related spiritually and we’re related culturally. We would like Europe to be robust. We imagine that Europe should survive, as a result of the 2 nice wars of the final century serve for us as historical past’s fixed reminder that finally, our future is and can all the time be intertwined with yours, as a result of we all know that the destiny of Europe won’t ever be irrelevant to our personal.
Nationwide safety, which this convention is essentially about, will not be merely collection of technical questions—how a lot we spend on protection or the place, how we deploy it, these are vital questions. They’re. However they don’t seem to be the elemental one. The basic query we should reply on the outset is what precisely are we defending, as a result of armies don’t struggle for abstractions. Armies struggle for a folks; armies struggle for a nation. Armies struggle for a lifestyle. And that’s what we’re defending: an awesome civilization that has each purpose to be pleased with its historical past, assured of its future, and goals to all the time be the grasp of its personal financial and political future.
It was right here in Europe the place the concepts that planted the seeds of liberty that modified the world had been born. It was right here in Europe the place the world—which gave the world the rule of regulation, the colleges, and the scientific revolution. It was this continent that produced the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, of Dante and Shakespeare, of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. And that is the place the place the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and the towering spires of the nice cathedral in Cologne, they testify not simply to the greatness of our previous or to a religion in God that impressed these marvels. They foreshadow the wonders that await us in our future. However provided that we’re unapologetic in our heritage and pleased with this widespread inheritance can we collectively start the work of envisioning and shaping our financial and our political future.
De-industrialization was not inevitable. It was a acutely aware coverage alternative, a decades-long financial enterprise that stripped our nations of their wealth, of their productive capability, and of their independence. And the lack of our provide chain sovereignty was not a perform of a affluent and wholesome system of worldwide commerce. It was silly. It was a silly however voluntary transformation of our financial system that left us depending on others for our wants and dangerously weak to disaster.
Mass migration will not be, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence. It was and continues to be a disaster which is remodeling and destabilizing societies all throughout the West. Collectively we are able to re-industrialize our economies and rebuild our capability to defend our folks. However the work of this new alliance shouldn’t be targeted simply on army cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the previous. It also needs to be targeted on, collectively, advancing our mutual pursuits and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to construct a brand new Western century. Industrial house journey and cutting-edge synthetic intelligence; industrial automation and flex manufacturing; making a Western provide chain for essential minerals not weak to extortion from different powers; and a unified effort to compete for market share within the economies of the International South. Collectively we cannot solely take again management of our personal industries and provide chains—we are able to prosper within the areas that may outline the twenty first century.
However we should additionally acquire management of our nationwide borders. Controlling who and the way many individuals enter our international locations, this isn’t an expression of xenophobia. It’s not hate. It’s a basic act of nationwide sovereignty. And the failure to take action is not only an abdication of one among our most simple duties owed to our folks. It’s an pressing risk to the material of our societies and the survival of our civilization itself.
And at last, we are able to not place the so-called world order above the important pursuits of our folks and our nations. We don’t have to abandon the system of worldwide cooperation we authored, and we don’t have to dismantle the worldwide establishments of the outdated order that collectively we constructed. However these have to be reformed. These have to be rebuilt.
For instance, the United Nations nonetheless has great potential to be a instrument for good on this planet. However we can not ignore that in the present day, on probably the most urgent issues earlier than us, it has no solutions and has performed just about no function. It couldn’t clear up the battle in Gaza. As an alternative, it was American management that freed captives from barbarians and caused a fragile truce. It had not solved the battle in Ukraine. It took American management and partnership with most of the international locations right here in the present day simply to deliver the 2 sides to the desk looking for a still-elusive peace.
It was powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran. That required 14 bombs dropped with precision from American B-2 bombers. And it was unable to deal with the risk to our safety from a narcoterrorist dictator in Venezuela. As an alternative, it took American Particular Forces to deliver this fugitive to justice.
In an ideal world, all of those issues and extra could be solved by diplomats and strongly worded resolutions. However we don’t dwell in an ideal world, and we can not proceed to permit those that blatantly and overtly threaten our residents and endanger our world stability to protect themselves behind abstractions of worldwide regulation which they themselves routinely violate.
That is the trail that President Trump and america has embarked upon. It’s the path we ask you right here in Europe to affix us on. It’s a path we have now walked collectively earlier than and hope to stroll collectively once more. For 5 centuries, earlier than the tip of the Second World Struggle, the West had been increasing—its missionaries, its pilgrims, its troopers, its explorers pouring out from its shores to cross oceans, settle new continents, construct huge empires extending out throughout the globe.
However in 1945, for the primary time for the reason that age of Columbus, it was contracting. Europe was in ruins. Half of it lived behind an Iron Curtain and the remaining regarded like it could quickly comply with. The good Western empires had entered into terminal decline, accelerated by godless communist revolutions and by anti-colonial uprisings that might remodel the world and drape the crimson hammer and sickle throughout huge swaths of the map within the years to return.
Towards that backdrop, then, as now, many got here to imagine that the West’s age of dominance had come to an finish and that our future was destined to be a faint and feeble echo of our previous. However collectively, our predecessors acknowledged that decline was a alternative, and it was a alternative they refused to make. That is what we did collectively as soon as earlier than, and that is what President Trump and america wish to do once more now, along with you.
And because of this we don’t need our allies to be weak, as a result of that makes us weaker. We would like allies who can defend themselves in order that no adversary will ever be tempted to check our collective energy. For this reason we don’t need our allies to be shackled by guilt and disgrace. We would like allies who’re pleased with their tradition and of their heritage, who perceive that we’re heirs to the identical nice and noble civilization, and who, along with us, are prepared and in a position to defend it.
And because of this we don’t need allies to rationalize the damaged establishment moderately than reckon with what is important to repair it, for we in America have no real interest in being well mannered and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline. We don’t search to separate, however to revitalize an outdated friendship and renew the best civilization in human historical past. What we would like is a reinvigorated alliance that acknowledges that what has ailed our societies is not only a set of unhealthy insurance policies however a malaise of hopelessness and complacency. An alliance—the alliance that we would like is one that’s not paralyzed into inaction by concern—concern of local weather change, concern of battle, concern of expertise. As an alternative, we would like an alliance that boldly races into the long run. And the one concern we have now is the concern of the disgrace of not leaving our nations prouder, stronger, and wealthier for our kids.
An alliance able to defend our folks, to safeguard our pursuits, and to protect the liberty of motion that enables us to form our personal future—not one which exists to function a worldwide welfare state and atone for the purported sins of previous generations. An alliance that doesn’t enable its energy to be outsourced, constrained, or subordinated to methods past its management; one that doesn’t depend upon others for the essential requirements of its nationwide life; and one that doesn’t preserve the well mannered pretense that our lifestyle is only one amongst many and that asks for permission earlier than it acts. And above all, an alliance based mostly on the popularity that we, the West, have inherited collectively—what we have now inherited collectively is one thing that’s distinctive and distinctive and irreplaceable, as a result of this, in any case, is the very basis of the transatlantic bond.
Appearing collectively on this method, we won’t simply assist get well a sane international coverage. It is going to restore to us a clearer sense of ourselves. It is going to restore a spot on this planet, and in so doing, it’ll rebuke and deter the forces of civilizational erasure that in the present day menace each America and Europe alike.
So in a time of headlines heralding the tip of the transatlantic period, let or not it’s identified and clear to all that that is neither our objective nor our want— – as a result of for us People, our dwelling could also be within the Western Hemisphere, however we are going to all the time be a toddler of Europe.
Our story started with an Italian explorer whose journey into the nice unknown to find a brand new world introduced Christianity to the Americas—and have become the legend that outlined the creativeness of a our pioneer nation.
Our first colonies had been constructed by English settlers, to whom we owe not simply the language we converse however the entire of our political and authorized system. Our frontiers had been formed by Scots-Irish—that proud, hearty clan from the hills of Ulster that gave us Davy Crockett and Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt and Neil Armstrong.
Our nice midwestern heartland was constructed by German farmers and craftsmen who reworked empty plains into a worldwide agricultural powerhouse – and by the best way, dramatically upgraded the standard of American beer.
Our growth into the inside adopted the footsteps of French fur merchants and explorers whose names, by the best way, nonetheless adorn the road indicators and cities’ names all throughout the Mississippi Valley. Our horses, our ranches, our rodeos—your complete romance of the cowboy archetype that turned synonymous with the American West—these had been born in Spain. And our largest and most iconic metropolis was named New Amsterdam earlier than it was named New York.
And have you learnt that within the yr that my nation was based, Lorenzo and Catalina Geroldi lived in Casale Monferrato within the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. And Jose and Manuela Reina lived in Sevilla, Spain. I don’t know what, if something, they knew in regards to the 13 colonies which had gained their independence from the British empire, however right here’s what I’m sure of: They may have by no means imagined that 250 years later, one among their direct descendants could be again right here in the present day on this continent because the chief diplomat of that toddler nation. And but right here I’m, reminded by my very own story that each our histories and our fates will all the time be linked.
Collectively we rebuilt a shattered continent within the wake of two devastating world wars. After we discovered ourselves divided as soon as once more by the Iron Curtain, the free West linked arms with the brave dissidents struggling in opposition to tyranny within the East to defeat Soviet communism. We have now fought in opposition to one another, then reconciled, then fought, then reconciled once more. And we have now bled and died aspect by aspect on battlefields from Kapyong to Kandahar.
And I’m right here in the present day to depart it clear that America is charting the trail for a brand new century of prosperity, and that after once more we wish to do it along with you, our cherished allies and our oldest buddies.
We wish to do it along with you, with a Europe that’s pleased with its heritage and of its historical past; with a Europe that has the spirit of creation of liberty that despatched ships out into uncharted seas and birthed our civilization; with a Europe that has the means to defend itself and the need to outlive. We needs to be pleased with what we achieved collectively within the final century, however now we should confront and embrace the alternatives of a brand new one—as a result of yesterday is over, the long run is inevitable, and our future collectively awaits. Thanks.
