Name: EU's Kallas refutes US portrayal of Europe in decline at MSC 2026 | DW News
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Well, it's the third and final day of the Munich Security Conference.

With transatlantic ties strained, Saturday's keynote speech by U.S. secretary of State Marco Rubio was highly anticipated.

He struck a conciliatory yet critical tone of Europe.

While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also took to the stage.

He called Russian President Putin a slave to.

We can speak with DW Chief International Editor Richard Walker.

Another conference off the back of what's been a big year globally.

Yeah, well, today, Jared, the final sessions are very much focused on Europe, so they're focused on trying to get.

There's one that's focused on trying to better integrate the European single market.

So the marketplace within Europe for good is seen as very integrated, but

for services is seen as not really integrated enough.

And with European economic growth struggling, that is seen as a real weakness that needs to be addressed.

And there's also going to be a big session talking about European values and to what extent they are contested at the moment, to what extent, you know, there really is deep belief in those values in European countries.

But I think all of that reflects the fact that conference overall has been very much kind of Europe and transatlantic focused and a little bit less globally focused.

And Munich security conferences have attempted to be in recent years.

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio spoke yesterday.

He called for greater transatlantic unity, but with conditions.

Still, though, relief for European leaders who were watching.

How were his comments received yesterday?

Yeah, so Marco Rubio's speech was definitely the talking point, you know, in the lounges here in the.

And that idea of relief was definitely the kind of first sense that went through the halls.

And there was a standing ovation for Rubio at the end of his speech.

And the chair of the Munich Security Conference talked about, you know, there having been a sigh of relief.

But I think you talk to a lot of people, if they look closer at what Marco Rubio was saying, that they see that, you know, this was a speech that wasn't so much about defense.

It was very much more about sort of a projection of, you know, the values of the Trump administration and, you know, talking about ideas like civilization, using that term 12 times during the course of the speech, this tapping into to Trump administration strategy, papers saying that they're concerned that mass immigration in Europe will lead to what they call civilizational erasure.

So I think a lot of people also looking at what Marco Rubio said and say, well, it was friendlier than J.D.

vance was a year ago and it appeared more constructive than J.D.

a lot of the themes were very much the same and that this idea of relief, this feeling of reassurance that some feel is perhaps shallow.

But I would like to pick up on another comment that was made by a less well known American official, but

I found more interesting really than almost anything that Marco Rubio said.

And this was from the Under Secretary of State for War man called Elbridge Colby, who's seen as very influential in the Pentagon.

And he said in a think tank event on Friday, he said that a certain degree of anxiety in Europe is salutary.

So essentially saying that for the US Administration, they don't want the Europeans to feel too comfortable, too reassured.

A certain amount of really using the word anxiety is in fact a good thing.

And I think that's an interesting light through which to look at speeches by Donald TRUMP, speeches by J.D.

vance, and this speech by Marco Rubio that if it doesn't fully reassure, and

that might be part of the point, because they want the Europeans to feel a certain amount of nervousness so that they do really seriously invest more in their own defence.

That was DW's chief international editor, Richard Walker.

At the Munich security conference, the EU's foreign policy chief is pushing back against the U.S.

s portrayal of Europe in decline a day after Washington's top diplomat criticized the bloc's immigration and and climate policies.

Speaking on the last day of the Munich Security Conference, Kaia Kallas said Europe is not facing civilizational erasure and that Europe bashing had become fashionable in certain political circles.

But she added that the much anticipated speech by U.S.

secretary of State Marco Rubio at the conference reassured transatlantic ties.

All right, so let's bring in correspondent Terry Schultz, who's standing by for us at the conference in Munich.

So one of the most talked about moments was the speech by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He called for, you know, overall stronger transatlantic unity.

But there was also some issues that he mentioned that didn't really roll smoothly with some Europeans.

He called for a stronger transatlantic unity with Europe, following basically the instructions of the United States, which is not the case at the moment.

And he indicated that, you know, there may not be such strong transatlantic unity if Europe doesn't go in the direction that the Trump administration would like.

So I would say that, you know, today, on the last, the third day of the Munich Security Conference, people are still talking about this.

It's sort of what everyone goes up to each other and says, well, what did you think?

And you know, exactly what they're talking about.

But, you know, while Marco Rubio got a standing ovation, there are plenty of people who wonder why that happened, that it wasn't really that positive of a speech.

There was plenty of criticism of Europe in it.

Going back to the Trump administration's main themes.

Too much migration, too much spending on social programs at the expense of defense, these kind of messages.

So people are reflecting on it a lot more than they were in the room, simply having not had any direct insults coming from the Secretary of State.

And I believe that it's going to go on for a while.

Look, the theme of this year's conference is.

I believe that's a reference to the major geopolitical instability we are seeing right now.

Overall, of course, there, I mean, there are so many bad things happening in the world that the US And Europe both recognize at some level they have to be on the same side, that they, there are no more two similar continents than, than these.

And, you know, things get a lot worse when they don't work together at the same time.

Again, going back to, for example, Kayakalis, who spoke again this morning.

She pointed out that not everything is under destruction.

In fact, she, she said that, you know, countries still want to join the European Union, so it is very much still under construction.

She said 40% of Canadians in a recent poll said they'd love to be part of the eu.

So there are other messages coming out of this.

But again, the need for transatlantic unity is something that I think even the Trump administration and the EU's top diplomats would agree on.

They just have to find a way to get there.

Look, the conference is wrapping up, as you say.

What will European leaders be watching most closely in the weeks ahead?

I think there's no question that in the very nearest days ahead, everyone's going to be looking at the next round of talks on Ukraine.

Of course, the Europeans feel very much that the Trump administration puts too much pressure on Ukraine for concessions, not enough on Russia.

And so the next round of talks, which could be taking place just within the next couple of days, are going to be a real pivotal moment to see what happens next.

Everyone wants very much for Ukraine to prevail, for Ukraine to be in a strong enough position that any eventual peace deal will, of course, not leave Europe in a more risky situation.

What's going to happen on Iran, of course, very much at the forefront of, of of minds here at the Munich Security Conference.

And in Europe, there are so many other crises going around going over the world, but

these are the two that I think we'll really be looking at most closely in the nearest weeks.