Trans-Atlantic tensions in focus as annual Munich security gathering opens

MUNICH (AP) — An annual gathering of top international security figures that last year set the tone for a growing rift between the United States and Europe opens Friday, bringing together many top European officials with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others.

The Munich Security Conference opens with a speech by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of 15 heads of state or government from European Union countries expected to attend.

The many other expected guests at the conference that runs until Sunday include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In keeping with the conference’s tradition, there will also be a large delegation of members of the U.S. Congress.

“Trans-Atlantic relations have been the backbone of this conference since it was founded in 1963 ... and trans-Atlantic relations are currently in a significant crisis of confidence and credibility,” conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told reporters earlier this week. “So it is particularly welcome that the American side has such great interest in Munich.”

At last year’s conference, held a few weeks into U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, Vice President JD Vance stunned European leaders by lecturing them about the state of democracy on the continent.

A series of statements and moves from the Trump administration targeting allies followed in the months after that, including Trump’s threat last month to impose new tariffs on several European countries in a bid to secure U.S. control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark . The president later dropped that threat.

With Rubio heading the U.S. delegation this year, European leaders can hope for a less contentious approach more focused on traditional global security concerns.

Rubio is expected to meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the conference, according to officials from both sides, one of many meetings going on in and around the hotel that hosts the event.

Rubio also met China’s Wang ahead of Trump’s planned visit to China in April. They shook hands in front of Chinese and U.S. flags before sitting down with their delegations, but neither of them spoke.

Before departing for Germany on Thursday, Rubio had some reassuring words as he described Europe as important for Americans.

“We’re very tightly linked together with Europe,” he told reporters. “Most people in this country can trace both, either their cultural or their personal heritage, back to Europe. So, we just have to talk about that.”

But Rubio made clear it wouldn’t be business as it used to be, saying: “We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to reexamine what that looks like.”

Rubio arrived in Munich Friday and is due to address the conference on Saturday morning.

Since last year’s Munich conference, NATO allies have agreed under pressure from Trump to a large increase in their defense spending target.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said there has been a “shift in mindset,” with “Europe really stepping up, Europe taking more of a leadership role within NATO, Europe also taking more care of its own defense.”

Moulson reported from Berlin.

慕尼黑（美联社）——去年为美欧之间日益加剧的裂痕定下基调的年度国际安全领袖聚会将于周五开幕，届时许多欧洲高级官员将与美国国务卿马可·卢比奥等人齐聚一堂。

慕尼黑安全会议以德国总理弗里德里希·默茨的讲话拉开帷幕，他是预计将出席会议的15位欧盟国家元首或政府首脑之一。

此次会议将持续到周日，预计出席的嘉宾还包括乌克兰总统泽连斯基和中国外交部长王毅。按照会议惯例，美国国会也将派出庞大的代表团。

“自1963年会议创立以来，跨大西洋关系一直是会议的基石……而目前跨大西洋关系正面临着严重的信任和信誉危机，”会议主席沃尔夫冈·伊辛格本周早些时候对记者表示，“因此，美方对慕尼黑会议表现出如此浓厚的兴趣，尤其令人欣慰。”

在去年的会议上，正值美国总统唐纳德·特朗普第二个任期开始几周后，副总统JD·万斯向欧洲领导人发表了关于欧洲大陆民主状况的演讲，令他们感到震惊。

此后几个月，特朗普政府针对盟友发表了一系列声明并采取了一系列行动，包括特朗普上个月威胁要对几个欧洲国家加征新关税，以巩固美国对格陵兰岛的控制权。格陵兰岛是北约盟国丹麦的半自治领土。不过，特朗普后来放弃了这一威胁。

今年，由于卢比奥率领美国代表团，欧洲领导人可以期待美国采取一种较少争议、更侧重于传统全球安全问题的做法。

据双方官员透露，鲁比奥预计将在会议期间与丹麦首相梅特·弗雷德里克森和格陵兰首相延斯-弗雷德里克·尼尔森会面。此次会议是举办该活动的酒店内外众多会晤之一。

在特朗普计划于4月访华之前，卢比奥也与中国国家主席王毅会面。他们在中美两国国旗前握手，之后与各自代表团成员会面，但两人均未发表讲话。

周四启程前往德国之前，鲁比奥发表了一些令人安心的讲话，他表示欧洲对美国人很重要。

“我们与欧洲联系非常紧密，”他告诉记者。“这个国家的大多数人都能追溯到欧洲，无论是文化传承还是个人渊源。所以，我们必须谈谈这个问题。”

但鲁比奥明确表示，这不会像以前那样是商业运作了，他说：“我们生活在一个地缘政治的新时代，这将要求我们所有人重新审视它的样子。”

鲁比奥周五抵达慕尼黑，将于周六上午在会议上发表讲话。

自去年慕尼黑会议以来，在特朗普的压力下，北约盟国已同意大幅提高国防开支目标。

北约秘书长马克·吕特表示，欧洲的“思维方式发生了转变”，“欧洲正在真正地挺身而出，在北约内部发挥更大的领导作用，欧洲也更加重视自身的国防”。

穆尔森从柏林报道。