MUNICH, Feb 14: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure a nervous Europe on Saturday, saying that Washington wanted to recharge the transatlantic alliance so that a strong Europe could help the US on its mission of global "renewal".
Speaking at a security conference in Munich after months of turmoil in US-European relations sparked by US President Donald Trump's vows to seize Greenland and his often derisive remarks about US allies, Washington's top diplomat struck a markedly soothing tone.
"We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history," Rubio said, calling for "a reinvigorated alliance."
"We want Europe to be strong," Rubio said, adding that the continent and the US "belong together."
He echoed Trump administration's oft-stated assertion that immigration posed a threat, saying that "mass migration" was "a crisis which is transforming and destabilising societies all across the West."
He said that Europe and the US were "heirs to the same great and noble civilisation" and that he hoped Europe "together with us are willing and able to defend it."
Aside from immigration, Rubio otherwise largely avoided the MAGA flashpoint and culture war issues that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, had deepened a "rift" between US and Europe.
Rubio's speech marked a sharp contrast to that of US Vice President JD Vance a year ago, when he used the same stage to attack European policies on a range of issues including free speech, shocking European allies.
US-Europe ties were further strained by the new US National Security Strategy, which launched an unprecedented attack against Europeans, charging that the continent was threatened with "civilisational decline" and by the Trump administration's courting of far-right parties.
Ties plunged last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.
Rubio was on Sunday due to travel to Slovakia and Hungary, European countries run by nationalist leaders endorsed by Trump.
Some breathed a sigh of relief following Rubio's speech, with Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur telling AFP "it was needed to show that we are still allies and partners."
But others said they did not mark a shift in the US stance, with former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis saying "it was simply delivered in more polite terms. I am not sure the white paint will hold."
European leaders at the Munich Security Conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared NATO defences, saying this was essential for Europe to counter a hostile Russia. �"AFP
