After a turbulent year, more than 60 heads of state and government are meeting at the Munich Security Conference. The area around the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel is filled with police and security checkpoints. In addition to the heads of state and government, numerous ministers and foreign and security experts are also attending.
In his opening speech, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz states that the rules-based world order no longer exists. He paints a picture of a new world where great powers govern by their own rules.
"It is fast, hard and unpredictable," Merz says.
A bolder Europe
In his speech, Merz addresses the United States directly, switching from German to English. He states that NATO is the strongest alliance in the world.
"Even the United States is not powerful enough to fend for itself," Merz says.
His recipe for the crisis is a bolder and stronger Europe, both economically and in terms of security.
"A strong Europe is our best answer in this new era. Uniting and strengthening Europe is our primary task today," Merz says.
The greatest interest is around the speech that U.S. Senator Marco Rubio will give on Saturday morning. Last year, world leaders were shocked by the harsh tone of Senator J.D. Vance's speech.
"It has been significantly damaging to trust for quite some time now," says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M).
Waiting for Rubio
Kristersson has no direct expectations for Rubio's speech, but points out that a different type of politician is leading the American delegation this year.
"The vast majority of people assess that there is a fully functioning discussion with Rubio on most issues," he says.
"I have no expectations of any new weirdness, but neither do I expect them to change policy in any way. It's probably set."
"No decisions are made at the security conference. It is more of an opportunity for politicians and experts from both sides of the Atlantic to meet. A meeting place for security policy in a rather strange security policy time," Kristersson summarizes.
"So it's clear that if it can calm the waters and we can have good conversations instead of strange ones, then that's a value in itself."
