Europe seeks new ‘partnership’ with US at security gathering

German leader Friedrich Merz called on Friday for “a new transatlantic partnership” between the United States and Europe, as he rallied officials at a top security conference under heavy pressure from US President Donald Trump.

European leaders were striving to shore up relations with Washington, insisting they were strengthening their defences in line with Trump’s demands at what Merz and others described as a time of “upheaval.”

This year’s Munich Security Conference comes at a time of strained ties between Europe and the United States, after Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised European countries’ record on immigration.

Russia’s war against Ukraine, set to enter its fifth year this month, will be high on the agenda, alongside efforts by European Nato members to raise their defence budgets out of concern that Moscow could seek to expand into their territory.

European leaders at the gathering defended their security commitments and the Nato alliance, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen saying the bloc was “ready to take more responsibility for our own security” - after Trump called it into question and accused allies of not spending enough on defence.

“Being a part of Nato is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It’s also the United States’ competitive advantage. So let’s repair and revive transatlantic trust together,” Merz said.

“In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived on Friday, is due to speak at the annual gathering on Saturday, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, organisers said.

Rubio is seen as a more conciliatory choice of envoy, a year after Vice President JD Vance used the same stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking European allies.

“Rubio will not gratuitously offend the Europeans,” analyst Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group told a news conference.

“Rubio will be seen as broadly constructive, trying to provide less uncertainty and less unpredictability and less unreliability from the Americans, even though a lot of the message will be tough.”

Rubio met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of the conference, a journalist said, at a time of heightened Washington-Beijing tensions.

Meanwhile relations between Europe and the United States, their traditional allies and guarantors of the continent’s security for decades, are under pressure. Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has frequently criticised European countries for not sharing enough of the burden on common defence.

Ties plunged further last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen said they would discuss Greenland with Rubio on Friday on the sidelines of the conference.

Overall, more than 60 heads of state and government and around 100 foreign and defence ministers were to descend on the southern German city under high security, with about 5,000 police deployed for the event.

Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron were scheduled to meet UK premier Keir Starmer and Zelensky on Friday afternoon for talks on Ukraine, with Rubio also set to attend.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said he met Wang Yi from China - a close partner of Moscow - at the conference and discussed ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky visited a drone factory near Munich with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

“It’s good to have strong partnership with Americans... but I think that Europe... needs (an) independent defence industry, very strong,” he said.

“Europe has to be definitely independent with strong security guarantees.”

Nato’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the sidelines of the conference that Europe was “stepping up... taking more of a leadership role within Nato” and “taking more care of its own defence.”

Agence France-Presse