US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has delivered a blistering attack on open borders, globalism and the erosion of national sovereignty in Europe, warning from the ancient heart of Athens that the West risks sliding into “atrophy, servitude and decline.”
Speaking on Wednesday from the Pnyx, the ancient assembly site beneath the Acropolis, Rubio argued that Western governments had spent decades dismantling the very principles that made their civilization successful.
“‘Nationalism’ became a dirty word,” Rubio said. “So we tore down our monuments, we condemned our own history, and in too many places we taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit.”
“In the process we opened our borders, and outsourced our industry, and allowed our militaries to wither and to decay,” he added.
Rubio contrasted the globalist approach embraced by much of the European political establishment with the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine, arguing that governments have an obligation to put their own citizens above international institutions.
“It has become fashionable today to believe that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the global community over one’s own people,” he said, insisting the ancient Greeks understood that there was “nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation” or defending its interests “above all else.”
The remarks amount to the latest broadside from Washington in an increasingly bitter ideological dispute with the EU over migration, censorship and national sovereignty. The Trump administration has repeatedly portrayed Brussels and Western European governments as having betrayed their own populations.
Vice President JD Vance has previously warned that Europe risks committing “civilizational suicide” through uncontrolled migration and curbs on free expression. At the Munich Security Conference last year, he argued that the continent’s greatest danger came not from Russia or China, but from an internal retreat from democratic values. The administration formalized much of that critique in its 2025 National Security Strategy, which warned that Europe faces potential “civilizational erasure.”
The transatlantic clash has become particularly visible over immigration. Just this week, President Donald Trump blamed violent unrest in France on “out of control mass migration,” rejecting claims that the nationwide student protests were primarily about underfunded schools. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz similarly blamed Europe’s “open borders” and “unchecked immigration” for growing public anger.
Rubio nevertheless stopped short of calling for a rupture with Europe. Instead, he urged the continent to follow Washington’s nationalist turn, praising Greece as a “model ally” and saying there were already signs of a broader shift.
“We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was lit here millennia ago,” he said.
Rubio declared that the US, under Trump, had already chosen the “unapologetic pursuit of national power,” including reindustrialization, securing critical supply chains, rebuilding the military and seeking dominance in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, weapons, space and other strategic industries.
The West, he warned, is now at an “inflection point,” with decisions made over the next decade potentially determining whether it remains at the center of global power or accepts a future of decline.
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