MUNICH, Germany − A year ago,Vice President JD Vancedelivered a fact-lite, bombshell speech at the Munich Security Conference that stunned European leaders because it deeply criticized its policies on migration, defense, free speech and warned that the region faced "civilizational erasure" if it didn't take immediate action.

At the same forum on Feb. 14, America's top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that "the United States and Europe belong together."

"The fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own," Rubio said during a 30-minute address in Munich that sought to spell out some of the links and historical ties between the U.S. and Europe and at times drew big applause from dozens of world leaders and senior officials and even a standing ovation from a large part of the audience.

"In a time of headlines heralding the end of the transatlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe," Rubio said. His remarks appeared to be aimed in part at providing a message of unity after Vance from the same stage last year launched a blistering attack on European leaders, accusing them of censoring free speech, failing to control immigration and not doing enough to protect the region militarily. "This is unacceptable!" Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, shouted from the audience at the time.

But in his address Rubio also made it clear that the Trump administration wants a shift in how European countries work together with the U.S. "We want allies who can defend themselves so no adversaries will feel inclined to challenge our collective strength," he said. "We want allies who are proud of their culture, their heritage."

Still, while it was a different tone, it may not, ultimately, be a substantial shift in how the two regions do business.

In a report a report released ahead of the gathering, the security conference's organizers described PresidentDonald Trumpas a "wrecking ball" who is destroying the norms and institutions of the international order. Last month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark questioned how long America would remain a European ally.

And many senior diplomats and officials here said that there is no question that a deep and"destructive" foreign policydivide has opened up between Europe and Trump during his action-packed second term in office.

"The culture war of the MAGA movement is not ours. Freedom of speech ends here with us when that speech goes against human dignity and the constitution," Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on stage in Munich in Feb. 13, referring to Vance's address last year. "We do not believe in tariffs and protectionism, but in free trade." Last week, Merz said "transatlantic relations have changed" and "no one in this room says this with more regret than I."

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the European Union's executive branch, said in Munich that "some lines have been crossed than cannot be uncrossed anymore."

Source: Drudge Report