“We don't want Europe to depend on us, we don't ask for the US to be a vassal.” Marco Rubio, new messages to Europeans, in Slovakia
Marco Rubio. Photo credit: Emil Vasko / News and Media / Profimedia
American Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, in the Slovak capital Bratislava, that the United States is not opposed to the European members of NATO developing their own military capabilities, as Washington does not want vassal and dependent countries in Europe, but strong allies, reports Agerpres.
“We don't want Europe to depend on us, we don't ask for Europe to be a vassal of the United States,” said the head of American diplomacy at a press conference in Bratislava together with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
“We want the alliance to be so strong that no one ever, ever dares to test it, no one dares to defy it. So we welcome any measure that individual members take to strengthen the alliance. We see that as a very positive thing,” Rubio explained.
He repeated the message he delivered the day before in his speech at the Munich Security Conference, stating that the transatlantic link is not just military or commercial, but based on a common culture and roots.
The US secretary of state insisted that there was nothing “controversial” about the idea that each country should prioritize its national interests above all else. And in case of “inconsistencies” between various interests, he continued, then the partnership comes into play to harmonize them and to “find a way to move forward”.
Rubio's “conciliatory” message towards Europe
“We want Europe to be strong, we believe that Europe must survive, as the two great wars of the last century serve as historical lessons, a constant reminder that in the end, our destiny is and always will be intertwined with yours,” Rubio said at the Munich Security Conference, in a speech interpreted as conciliatory toward Europe, unlike that of US Vice President JD Vance last year.
Rubio's speech did not reassure all European leaders regarding the Trump administration. “It's a poisoned gift” / “It was MAGA, but without any perspective”
However, Rubio did not shy away from criticizing Europe, including for the “dangerous illusion” after the fall of communism that “every nation would now be a liberal democracy, that the ties formed by trade would replace the idea of the nation, that the so-called rules-based global order would replace the national interest, and that we live in a world without borders where everyone would be a citizen of the world.”
“And in search of a world without borders, we have opened the doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture and the future of our peoples,” Rubio warned, criticizing the open door policy towards migrants that the EU has been practicing for a decade and the similar policy practiced by the US especially under the leadership of Democratic presidents, such as former President Joe Biden.
“We made these mistakes together, and now together we owe it to our people to fight these things and move forward toward reconstruction,” Rubio concluded.
After participating in the Munich Security Conference, he continues his European tour with visits to Slovakia and Hungary, countries led by conservative politicians ideologically close to American President Donald Trump, respectively Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the latter being a social democrat, but of conservative orientation.
The meeting between Fico and Rubio focused on economic issues, particularly Slovakia's upcoming purchase of a US nuclear reactor and four more F-16 multi-role aircraft.
