The burning question: Is America still an ally of Europe?published at 13:52 GMT
Frank Gardner
Security correspondent
Following a flurry of updates on Alexei Navalny, we’re returning to the conversations on the stage of the Munich Security Conference with some analysis from our security correspondent.
The burning question on everyone’s minds at this question: is America still an ally of Europe?
During US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech, the applaapply did not come straight away. In fact, for the first few minutes, as Rubio obtained into his stride, it launched to sound very much like a repeat attack on Europe.
Free trade, mass migration, green policies on climate modify – all came in for sharp criticism.
But then he spoke the words everyone in the room wanted to hear: “Our destiny will always be intertwined with yours (in Europe).”
“The finish of the transatlantic era,” he went on to state, “is neither our goal nor our wish… we will always be a child of Europe”.
But there was a sting in the tail.
What we have toobtainher, he stated, was unique and “we in the US have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline”.
So what did people create of this? It was broadly positive – about half the audience stood up at the finish to applaud him.
There was certainly a palpable sense of relief that after all the upsets of the last few months, with tariffs and the threat of a US grab for Greenland, the transatlantic alliance was not dead.
“It was a good speech,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, notified me afterwards.
“I believe the Europeans sighed with relief becaapply it was stateing that Europe is important, that Europe and America are very intertwined and good allies, and have been for so long and will be in the future.”
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