Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has warned that the rules-based global order “no longer exists”, telling world leaders that freedom can no longer be taken for granted.
Opening the annual Munich Security Conference, Merz said the return of big-power politics meant Europeans must be prepared to make “sacrifice” to protect their security. He added that “our freedom is not guaranteed”.
He also acknowledged that “a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States”, an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump and his threats to Denmark’s sovereignty through repeated statements about annexing Greenland, as well as his tariff policies towards European nations.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was listening in the audience and is due to speak on Saturday, had earlier described the moment as a “new era in geopolitics”.
Around 50 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s conference, where discussions will focus on European defence and the future of the transatlantic relationship. The gathering comes as US commitments to Nato have been increasingly questioned.
Trump’s ambition to acquire Greenland has been seen by many European leaders as a watershed moment, eroding trust between Europe and its most powerful ally. The Russia-Ukraine war, growing tensions between the West and China, and the prospect of a renewed Iran-US nuclear deal are also high on the agenda.
Referring to repeated warnings that the rules-based order was collapsing, Merz told delegates: “I fear we must put it even more bluntly: this order, however imperfect it was even at its best, no longer exists in that form.”
He went on to say that “a rift, a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States”, recalling comments made in Munich a year earlier by Vice-President JD Vance. “He was right,” Merz said, adding that Europe does not share the culture war of the MAGA movement.
“Freedom of speech ends here with us when that speech goes against human dignity and the constitution,” he said. “We do not believe in tariffs and protectionism, but in free trade.”
Despite the tensions, Merz stopped short of writing off the long-standing transatlantic partnership, instead appealing directly to Washington by saying: “Let’s repair and revive transatlantic trust.”
The German leader also revealed that confidential talks were under way with French President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of creating a joint European nuclear deterrent, though he offered no further details.
France and the UK are currently the only nuclear powers in Europe, while Germany and many other countries have traditionally relied on the US nuclear umbrella within Nato.
Ahead of the conference, Rubio said the world was “changing very fast right in front of us”, adding that the current moment required countries to rethink their roles in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.
Tensions have escalated in recent months after Trump repeatedly claimed Greenland was vital to US national security, asserting without evidence that it was “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place”.
Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Friday that she planned to meet Rubio to discuss the US threats to seize Greenland, which remains a semi-autonomous Danish territory and a Nato ally.
