Key facts
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Europe to prioritize national interests.
- Rubio criticized the West for opening borders, outsourcing industry, and weakening militaries.
- Rubio stated that loyalty to one's nation and defending its interests is not selfish.
- Rubio previously took a gentler tone on U.S.-Europe relations at the Munich Security Conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a strong message to Europe on Wednesday, urging the continent to "wake up from its long slumber" and prioritize national interests. Speaking in Athens, Rubio criticized the current state of the West, where he believes "nationalism became a dirty word" and nations have weakened their borders, outsourced industry, and allowed their militaries to decay.
Rubio, who has often been seen as a proponent of President Donald Trump's more combative foreign policy approach, intensified his rhetoric compared to a previous address at the Munich Security Conference in February. At that event, he had struck a gentler tone while still conveying a similar message about the need for Europe to defend its interests.
In his Athens speech, Rubio extolled Europe as the "birthplace of the greatest civilization in the world" but denounced what he described as a trend of prioritizing the "global community over one's own." He asserted that the ancient Greeks demonstrated that "there is nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation, nor anything selfish or wrong about fighting to defend its interests above all else."