America and Europe Look To Become Frenemies With Softer Tone at Munich Forum

Europe and America softened the tone if not the substance of recent policy spats at the Munich Security Forum on Saturday, stressing common roots and shared destinies even as they agreed that it is time for Europe to step out from under the American defense umbrella. European leaders and diplomats, who expressed shock after being accused of presiding over the decline of democracy by Vice President J.D. Vance at the same forum a year ago, were heartened by the more comforting remarks from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stressed that Europe and America “belong together.”“America is charting the path for a new century of prosperity and we want to do it together with you, our cherished allies and oldest friends,” Mr. Rubio said to a standing ovation from his audience, which included more than 60 heads of state and government.By acting together, he added, America and Europe “will help restore a sane foreign policy.”Mr. Rubio sought to ease European fears of a complete break with America — fears that were heightened by President Trump’s threats to forcibly seize Greenland and by a widely cited speech from Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, who said at the World Economic Forum last month that America and its allies “are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”A transatlantic divorce “is neither our goal nor our wish,” Mr. Rubio said. “We don’t need to dismantle the global institutions of the old order that together we built — but these must be reformed.”Driving home his demand for the reform of those institutions, Mr. Rubio stressed, “We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West‘s managed decline.”That message appears to have been received by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, who addressed the forum after Mr. Rubio.While nodding to challenges posed by disputes with America over issues ranging from tariffs to tech regulations, Ms. von der Leyen said that Europe “must become more independent — there is no other choice.” But, she said, the pursuit of European independence does not mean weaker ties with America. “The opposite is true.”If America and Europe are headed for an amicable separation rather than a divorce, speakers on both sides made clear that the shift will be felt most strongly in the area of defense. “We want allies who can defend themselves so no adversaries will feel inclined to challenge our collective strength,” Mr. Rubio told the forum.That message appears to have gotten through.Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, told the forum that Europe must build up “sovereign deterrence and hard power” while President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Friday that Europe must “learn to become a geopolitical power” in all fields, including defense and technology.And Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, whose country plans to boost defense spending this year by 36 percent, declared that he has been in “confidential talks” with France regarding the development of an independent nuclear deterrent for Europe.

America and Europe Look To Become Frenemies With Softer Tone at Munich Forum

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