Mihkelson, who is chair of the Riigikogu's Foreign Affairs Committee and attended last week's Munich Security Conference, noted that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's eagerly anticipated speech contained nothing substantively new; rather, it was a diplomatic and more polished version of existing U.S. strategic documents.

"In essence, he spoke in the language of the U.S. national security strategy – we are acting on our own and, if you wish, you may join us – that was his message," Mihkelson told "Välisilm".

Rubio did not directly mention the threat posed by Russian aggression in his speech. According to Mihkelson, it is of vital importance for Estonia that NATO remain a transatlantic defense alliance, and that Russia does not develop an understanding or perception that NATO's Article 5 somehow is not functioning as it should.

At the same time, statements and actions from the U.S. side have made preserving the transatlantic alliance between America and Europe that much more complicated, Mihkelson noted.

"However, we have no alternative, as we do not want to enter into an alliance with Russia, which seeks to dismantle NATO," he said.

What this boils down to is that Europe is facing a fundamental and existential choice, Mihkelson said.

"Will we get to be a geopolitical actor alongside China, the U.S. and Russia in shaping the future world order, or will we be the ones who become marginalized by internal contradictions? Those who want to divide us can be found in every direction," he went on.

Europe's larger countries have started speaking with increasingly loud voices about nuclear deterrence. While there are two nuclear powers in Europe: France and the U.K., whose arsenals are now highly intertwined following last year's Northwood Declaration, talk of going down the costly route of developing nuclear weapons has also grown louder lately in Germany, Poland and Sweden.

According to Mihkelson, however, these discussions may serve to cast a negative shadow over the credibility of the transatlantic alliance.

"This symbolizes that which we do not want to see – it calls into question the credibility of the U.S. nuclear deterrence. This has been prompted by what we have witnessed from the U.S. administration over the past year – the issue of Greenland was also in the air over Munich; it has not disappeared. It may be relegated to the sidelines for now, but it has not been resolved," Mihkelson continued.

Europe's own nuclear deterrence is certainly a topic worth discussing, and there is nothing inherently wrong with doing that, the MP added. However, it should not be Europe itself that starts undermining the transatlantic alliance and its credibility.

Background:

Secretary of State Rubio has been tipped as a potential future presidential candidate given current incumbent Donald Trump cannot run again. His Munich speech last week, which was given a standing ovation, has been seen in direct contrast with the speech given a year earlier by Vice President J.D. Vance, the other front-runner as a potential presidential candidate.

"We do not need to abandon the system of international cooperation we authored, and we don't need to dismantle the global institutions of the old order that together we built," said Rubio, referring to NATO and the United Nations. "But these must be reformed. These must be rebuilt," Rubio said in Munich, stressing the U.S. prefers cordial relations with Europe rather than blowing them up.

His speech did draw pushback from High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who reportedly criticized Rubio's remarks on a "woke, decadent Europe" facing a decline in its civilization.

Rubio has stayed on in Europe to meet with the presidents of Hungary and Slovakia this week.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!