Rubio courts Europe at Munich, urges defence push (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: The US Secretary of State has told the Munich Security Conference that America is seeking to revitalise its alliance with European countries. 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. Mr Rubio also used his address on Saturday to criticise what he called mass migration, saying it had cost Western countries dearly. Let's go straight to my colleague, Kasia Medeira, who is in Munich for us. 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.

[00:01:15] Speaker 2: Yes, 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 Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, 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 were already braced for something from Marco Rubio. But what we heard today was very, very conciliatory. He was offering that olive branch to the 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 important, it was critical to 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 Sir Keir Starmer to be up next. He's not making a keynote speech. But 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 coming, symbolism is everything. So we're going to see Sir Keir 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, this tone of the speech from Marco Rubio, totally different to what we heard from JD Vance last year, completely different. 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 ceasefire. There was a crux there for Vladimir Zelensky. 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. What does that say? Everybody reading everything into the smallest details here. So, yeah, symbolism is important. But what is also important is those back conversations, those meetings behind closed doors that we're not privy to, because that's when all 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 so he was saying, look, Europe, you've got so much. We've got so much to be proud of. We need to stand up for ourselves. But we also know that Mark Rosser, the head of NATO, has said that without a U.S. backstop, NATO is really harmed. So there's a lot of push and pull. So it's getting that balance. And when it comes to the U.S. Secretary of State, I think he really achieved that balance in terms of the tone of his speech, Sarah.

[00:05:10] Speaker 1: Yeah, Kesha, there was a lot of sort of flattery in there, wasn't there? You know, talking about the wonderful cultural importance of Europe, what it's given to the world, Shakespeare, listing all sorts, you know, Mozart, Beethoven, all the rest of it. It was a real sort of love letter from the U.S. 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. So it was a sort of strange. It was a kind of call to arms. But also we love you. We want to go forward with you. But if you don't, that's your decision.

[00:05:47] Speaker 2: 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 U.S. has better beer. That got a round of applause. There was silence in the auditorium when J.D. Vance was speaking. Yeah, definitely a love letter, but 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 defense, 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've got a lot of Democrats here. We're talking about Gavin Newsom, the California governor, also Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 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.