Traveling to Europe to attend the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke of a new era in world order, clearly presenting the US position and expectations.
Rubio is representing the United States at the first major global conference since President Donald Trump threatened Denmark's sovereignty with a promise to annex Greenland.
"The world is changing very quickly before our eyes," Rubio told reporters, when asked if his message to Europeans would be more conciliatory than a year ago.
"We are living in a new era in geopolitics, and this will require all of us to reconsider what this era looks like and what our role will be," he added.
Rubio is expected to avoid the tough tone used last year by US Vice President JD Vance. Asked if he intended to be more moderate, he told reporters that Europeans “want to know where we are going, where we would like to go and where we would like to go with them.”
We recall that at last year's conference, Vance had harshly attacked Europe, including the United Kingdom, for its policies on freedom of expression and migration.
Tensions have risen in recent months, as Trump has repeatedly declared that Greenland is vital to US national security, claiming without evidence that it was "covered with Russian and Chinese ships everywhere."
These statements were seen by many European leaders as a critical moment that damaged trust with their biggest ally.
Ahead of the conference, eight former US ambassadors to NATO and eight former senior US commanders in Europe published an open letter, calling on Washington to maintain support for the Western defense alliance.
