The head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio on Wednesday praised the power of the United States and called on Europe to come out of “its torpor”, in a vibrant speech delivered on the hill of Pnyx opposite the rock of the Acropolis, an Athenian monument emblematic of Antiquity.
“We believe that Europe can emerge from its torpor and rekindle the flame that was lit here millennia ago,” said the American Secretary of State, praising ancient Greek civilization, the cradle of Western democracy.
“Everywhere on this continent, we are witnessing what we hope will be the start of a generational turning point: an explosion in defense spending, a wave of new partnerships and programs, as well as a boom in industry and production, in the wake of the historic commitments made last year” at the NATO summit in The Hague, he noted, adopting a more positive tone towards the Europeans.
However, in this speech with nationalist overtones, he estimated that Western civilization was “at a turning point” and at the crossroads between “national power” and decline. The ancient Greeks “understood that power is not only about having the means to defend yourself but also about having the credibility to show that you are prepared to use them,” he said. “This is the classic conception of politics and the art of governing that the Trump administration hopes to rehabilitate. Rehabilitate it not only for our country but for our entire civilization,” he pleaded.
Marco Rubio spoke at sunset in front of an audience of guests, including Greek President Konstantinos Tassoulas, on Pnyx Hill, an idyllic scene for this high-ranking diplomat and former senator who could harbor presidential ambitions after the departure of Donald Trump. It is on this same site that the citizens of Athens gathered in ancient times to discuss and vote on economic and political decisions by show of hands.
“Today we find ourselves at a crossroads. The path we take will determine whether the West will retain its place at the head of the world or whether it will resign itself to a future marked by atrophy, servitude and decline,” Marco Rubio said. He noted that, for their part, the United States of Donald Trump had “made the choice to unashamedly pursue” their “national power” through the control of strategic supply chains, reindustrialization, defense and the “struggle to dominate the technologies and industries of the future”, such as artificial intelligence.
The speech, full of historical references at the risk of clichés and glorification of heroes of Antiquity like Alexander the Great or, more strangely, of the conquistador Hernan Cortes, is in line with the one delivered in February, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where he denounced the decline of Europe. He then estimated that Europe was particularly threatened by massive immigration and called on the Old Continent to defend Christian civilization.
Previously on Wednesday, Marco Rubio, who arrived the day before in Greece from Iceland as part of a European tour, underlined the “importance” of the United States alliance with Greece, particularly on the energy level, and announced a bilateral agreement for the sharing of information in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism. The head of American diplomacy participated the same day in a “strategic dialogue” with Athens on regional and energy security in a context of strong tensions caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
