By Humeyra Pamuk, Gram Slattery and Andrew Gray
MUNICH, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Secretary of State Marco Rubio cast the United States as the "child of Europe" in a message of unity on Saturday, offering some reassurance as well as levelling more criticism at allies after a year of turmoil in transatlantic relations.
Rubio was addressing the annual Munich Security Conference, where Europe's leading powers have tried to project their own independence and strength while straining to keep an alliance with the U.S.
under President Donald Trump alive.
The speech delivered a degree of reassurance to European countries who fear being left in the lurch on anything from the war in Ukraine to international trade ructions in a rapidly shifting global order.
But it was short on concrete commitments and made no mention of Russia, raising questions on whether Rubio's more emollient tone than that of Vice President JD Vance at the same event a year ago would change the underlying dynamics.
"In a time of headlines heralding the end of the transatlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe," Rubio said.
"For the United States and Europe, we belong together," he said in a speech that drew a standing ovation at the end.
MIXED REACTIONS TO RUBIO'S SPEECH
While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was "very much reassured" by the speech, others struck a more cautious tone.
"I am not sure that Europeans see the announced civilisational decline, supposedly caused mainly by migration and deindustrialisation, as a core uniting interest. For most Europeans, the common interest is security," said Gabrielius Landsbergis, former foreign minister of NATO member Lithuania.
"This was not a departure from the general position of the (Trump) administration. It was simply delivered in more polite terms," he said on X.
Vance's address last year dressed down European allies, arguing that the greatest danger to Europe came from censorship and democratic backsliding rather than external threats like Russia.
While praising Europe's cultural achievements from the artist Michelangelo to the poet William Shakespeare, Rubio also touched on themes that have raised hackles, including criticism of mass migration and zealous action on climate change.
"We do not want our allies to be weak, because that makes us weaker," he said.
"For we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline, we do not seek to separate but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history."
A European diplomat said there was a sense of relief that Rubio had not directly attacked Europe and used the personal story to link the two sides. But, the diplomat added, "how you deliver the message makes a difference, but on the fundamentals the message is similar to Vance".
STARMER CALLS FOR MORE HARD POWER
The Munich conference of top security leaders has been dominated this year by how countries are scrambling to adjust to a year of confrontations with Trump on anything from tariffs to his threat to wrest Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark.
Asked about Russia after his speech, Rubio said the United States would not ditch its commitment to working on a peace deal with Ukraine but that it was not clear whether Moscow was serious about achieving this.
Speaking directly after Rubio, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Saturday against "knee-jerk" calls for the United States to distance itself from China and said that despite some positive recent signs from the White House, some U.S. voices were undermining the relationship.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had in his opening address on Friday called for a stronger Europe to reset ties with the U.S. in a dangerous new era of great power politics, while stressing the need for Europe to beef up its own defences.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has similarly sought a reset in relations with Europe after Brexit, on Saturday stressed the need to bolster the UK's "hard power" and military readiness plus more defence integration with Europe.
He also hinted at further alignment with the European Union's single market - which allows goods, services, capital and people to move freely across member states - and deeper economic integration, six years after Britain left the EU.
"We are not at a crossroads today, the road ahead is straight, and it is clear we must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age," Starmer said.
"We must be able to deter aggression, and yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight."
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Gram Slattery, Andrew Gray, Sarah Marsh, James Mackenzie, John Irish, Jonathan Landay, Alistair Smout; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Mark Heinrich)
