© US Department of State The leader of the Department of State emphasized that collaborative efforts are needed in several areas.
During a visit to Slovakia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ultimately addressed the US relationship with NATO. This announcement was made at a joint press briefing with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on February 15 in Bratislava.
“People are panicking, contemplating an abandonment of NATO, an abandonment of allies. But I believe fundamentally, our strength as a group is amplified by the strength of our allies,” he stated. He underscored that the United States has no intention of withdrawing from NATO.
“Concerning NATO, I am puzzled – the United States has a substantial number of troops deployed on a NATO mission. And we made it abundantly clear, particularly at the summit just recently and at the ministerial defense meeting. We are not leaving NATO. We are not departing,” Rubio affirmed.
The head of the State Department pointed out that numerous issues necessitate collaborative work, and the Trump administration is aiming to play an effective role in this respect.
He also indicated that the US does not desire for Europe to turn into a “satellite state.” “We don’t want Europe to become dependent,” Rubio commented.
With respect to the US relocating its military staff, Rubio clarified that this is a regular procedure.
As previously reported, the news of assurance that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday brought a collective sigh of relief to his European audience. However, not everyone shares this sentiment. Namely, Finnish President Alexander Stubb views it as a modification in tone, rather than substance: American foreign policy is currently evolving.
Expectations were quite low following the derogatory remark that Vice President J.D. Vance delivered from that same location a year prior. And Rubio definitively rose to meet the challenge. Rubio’s delivery was considerably gentler than Vance’s, yet the core message remained almost the same. Europe remains a place of weakness and inadequacy. Instead of directly asserting the Old World’s insignificance—“America can’t do anything for you,” as Vance phrased it—Rubio implored Europe to join Trump’s cultural shift and reconstruct the alliance in the MAGA likeness.