German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for a stronger Europe to reset its ties with the United States, wanting Washington to “repair and revive trust” in a dangerous new era of great power politics as the old global order crumbles.
In a speech to open the Munich Security Conference, Merz warned the US could not go it alone but also said Europe must beef up its own defences and mentioned confidential talks with France on nuclear deterrence.
The speech underscored how European leaders are increasingly looking to carve an independent path after a year of unprecedented upheaval in trans-atlantic ties, while also striving to maintain their alliance with Washington.
Taking his cue from those warning that the international rules-based order was about to be destroyed, Merz said: “I fear we must put it even more bluntly: This order, however imperfect it was even at its best, no longer exists in that form.” Switching to English at the end, Merz said: “In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone. Dear friends, being a part of Nato is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It is also the United States’ competitive advantage.”
“So let’s repair and revive transatlantic trust together,” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said trans-atlantic ties faced a “defining moment” in a rapidly changing world but struck a warmer tone ahead of the Munich Security Conference on Friday after a year of unprecedented upheaval.
At the same gathering of top security officials last year, Vice President JD Vance had attacked European allies, triggering a series of confrontations, with the U.S. seemingly set on dismantling much of the international order it helped to build. In response, Washington’s partners have been pushing to chart a more independent course while preserving the basis of the alliance, as they face myriad ​threats from Russia’s war in Ukraine to massive ructions in global trade.
“I think it’s at a defining moment … the world is changing very fast right in front of us,” Rubio said before departing for Munich. “The Old World is gone, frankly, the world grew up in, and we live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be,” he said.
