Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
I will be back tomorrow morning to bring you the speeches of several key leaders, including the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio (10:36), Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the UK’s Keir Starmer, who are all set to take to the Munich Security Conference’s stage tomorrow.
Here is your summary of the first day:
The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told Donald Trump that “in the era of great power rivalry, even the US will not be powerful enough to go alone” (14:21) in a wide-ranging speech rebuking some of the US criticism of Europe and calling for a new, reinvented transatlantic partnership (14:19, 14:24, 14:42) as he warned the old world order “no longer exists” (14:02).
Merz also disclosed he had held initial talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, over the possibility of joining France’s nuclear umbrella, as part of his broader call for Europe to develop a stronger self-standing security strategy (14:07, 14:15).
Macron later picked up that theme, revealing his talks with Merz and few other European leaders and trailing a further speech on this in the coming weeks (19:38, 19:58).
The French president also mounted a passionate, optimistic defence of Europe’s place in the world (19:18), dismissing US criticisms (19:18, 19:43, 20:20) and urging it to “reorganise our architecture of security” on the continent, including a long-term position on Russia (19:33).
Elsewhere,
Numerous European leaders reiterated their support for Ukraine and questioned Russia’s commitment to reaching a peace deal (11:01, 14:30, 16:15, 20:35).
The Danish and Greenlandic prime ministers held “constructive” talks with the US secretary of state Marco Rubio amid continued US interest in acquiring Greenland (19:14).
US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California governor Gavin Newsom criticised Trump policies as the two Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2028 sought to outline an alternative US vision of transatlantic and foreign policies (16:58, 18:22).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy will have a chance to raise all these points directly with US secretary of state Rubio, as they are expected to meet in Munich tomorrow, Reuters reported.
