Rubio warns Europe against the danger of Western decline

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Europe's fate is intertwined with the US while faulting the continent for what he said was a drift away from their shared Western values. The double-edged message offered some reassurance to allied leaders at the Munich Security Conference but did little to temper their push for more independence from Washington.

"We want Europe to prosper because we're interconnected in so many different ways, and because our alliance is so critical," Rubio told Bloomberg. "But it has to be an alliance of allies that are capable and willing to fight for who they are and what's important."




"What is it that binds us together? Ultimately, it's the fact that we are both heirs to the same civilization, and it's a great civilization," he said. "It's one we should be proud of."

Rubio's comments elaborated on a speech he delivered at Europe's premier annual security gathering in the morning.

"The alliance has to change," Rubio said. "When we come off as urgent or even critical about decisions that Europe has failed to make or made, it is because we care."

Urging European leaders to reject the "climate cult", he said the US had no interest "in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline." He criticised "an unprecedented wave of migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies." bloomberg