WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� is leading a large U.S. delegation this week to the Munich Security Conference where increasingly nervous European leaders are hoping for at least a brief reprieve from President Donald Trump鈥檚 often inconsistent policies and threats that have and the .
A year after Vice President JD at the same venue with a verbal assault on many of America鈥檚 closest allies in Europe, accusing them of with left-leaning domestic programs and not taking responsibility for their own defense, Rubio plans to take a less contentious but philosophically similar approach when he addresses the annual gathering of world leaders and national security officials Saturday, U.S. officials say.
Before boarding his flight on Thursday evening, Rubio had some reassuring words as he described Europe as important for Americans.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very tightly linked together with Europe,鈥� he told reporters. 鈥淢ost people in this country can trace both, either their cultural or their personal heritage, back to Europe. So, we just have to talk about that.鈥�
But Rubio made clear it wouldn鈥檛 be business as usual, saying: 鈥淲e live in a new era in geopolitics, and it鈥檚 going to require all of us to reexamine what that looks like.鈥�
The State Department鈥檚 formal announcement of Rubio鈥檚 trip offered no details about his two-day stop in Munich, after which he will visit Slovakia and Hungary. But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the trip, said America’s top diplomat intends to focus on areas of cooperation on shared global and regional concerns, including in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as China, an economic powerhouse seeking to .
Should that be the case, many in the audience may be relieved after being buffeted first by Vance鈥檚 blunt rebukes last year and then a series of in the months since that have targeted virtually every country in Europe, Canada and long-standing allies in the Indo-Pacific.
Rubio has work to do to ease European concerns
Trump鈥檚 recent comments about from NATO member Denmark and were particularly unnerving, leading many in Europe to and partner.
That leaves Rubio with a heavy lift if he wants to calm the waters.
Rubio said Thursday he expects to be asked about Greenland. 鈥淵ou know, we鈥檙e working on that. We feel good about it,鈥� he said.
Vance’s speech last year was 鈥渞eally a shock moment,鈥� said Claudia Major, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. 鈥淚t was perceived as the first very clear statement of what the new Trump administration was about,鈥� namely that 鈥淓uropeans are not partners any longer.鈥�
鈥淭here is a big doubt whether the basis (of trust) is still there and whether we still share the same vision for the trans-Atlantic relationship,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he longer this kind of estrangement goes, the more difficult it will be to re-find a solid relationship.鈥�
Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger offered a similar view.
鈥淭ransatlantic relations are currently in a significant crisis of confidence and credibility,鈥� he said this week. But he also expressed hope that Rubio and the dozens of U.S. lawmakers expected to attend the meeting will offer a less dire and dour prognosis for the future.
Some leaders take a middle line on Trump and some see a break
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whom Rubio will meet Friday, has tried to adopt a middle line to deal with Trump鈥檚 unpredictability and insistence on transactional relations.
He said Europe also needs to 鈥渓earn the language of power politics鈥� to assert itself, for example, by , striving for greater 鈥渢echnological independence鈥� and boosting its economic growth. But he stressed that 鈥渁s democracies, we are partners and allies and not subordinates鈥� of the U.S.
Some, like French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, appear to have all but given up on Trump and the United States. Both Canada and France opened consulates in the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, last week in a and Denmark.
Macron warned this week that tensions between Europe and the U.S. could intensify after the recent 鈥淕reenland moment.鈥� He described the Trump administration as 鈥渙penly anti-European鈥� and seeking the European Union鈥檚 鈥渄ismemberment.鈥�
鈥淲hen there鈥檚 a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn鈥檛 bow down or try to reach a settlement,鈥� he said in an interview with several European newspapers. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e tried that strategy for months. It鈥檚 not working.鈥�
Macron noted a 鈥渄ouble crisis: We have the Chinese tsunami on the trade front, and we have minute-by-minute instability on the American side.鈥�
Carney 鈥� who drew applause from many for last month at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland 鈥� has made no secret of his frustration and impatience with the Republican president.
Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. He vowed to other than the U.S., including China, to serve as anchors of commercial stability. The China deal drew .
Greenland and Ukraine fears
For many in Europe, Trump鈥檚 intentions regarding Greenland exacerbate their fears over and serve as a reminder of centuries of power politics in which diplomacy was subordinate to the use of military force.
鈥淕reenland is to Trump as, essentially, Ukraine is to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, although obviously without the devastating war at this stage,鈥� said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on the White House National Security Council during Trump鈥檚 first term in office.
In the meantime, as Trump tries to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and seek a nuclear deal with Iran, Europeans are increasingly uneasy about a 27-member group of world leaders tasked first with handling the Gaza peace agreement but eventually envisaged as a vehicle for .
Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Norway and Sweden, among others, have either declined to accept or have not yet signed on to the board, which will to raise money for Gaza in Washington on Feb. 19.
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Associated Press writers Emma Burrows in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
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