As a counterweight to U.S. Foreign Minister Rubio, prominent U.S. Democrats are expected at the Munich Security Conference – foremost among them California Governor Newsom. The international order will be discussed alongside the war in Ukraine.
The Munich Security Conference, beginning this Friday, is expected to place particular focus on U.S. Representatives this year. In addition to Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, several prominent opponents of U.S. President Donald Trump will too be in attendance.
Conference chair Wolfgang Ischinger announced at a press conference that California Governor and potential presidential candidate Gavin Newsom, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be attending on behalf of the U.S. Democrats. Approximately 50 members of Congress will be part of the U.S. Delegation.
Newsom will decide after the midterm congressional elections in November whether to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. He previously caused a stir in January with an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he sharply criticized European heads of state and government for what he saw as their subservient attitude toward Trump. “I can no longer bear this complicity, how people give in,” he said. “It’s time to take a stand.”
More than 60 heads of state and government and around 100 foreign and defense ministers will take part in the world’s most important meeting on security policy from Friday to Sunday. In total, around 120 countries will be represented in Munich, or about two-thirds of all member states of the United Nations. According to Conference Chair Ischinger, Russia’s war against Ukraine will once again be a central topic. The annual Ewald von Kleist Award will this year go not to an individual, but to the “brave Ukrainian people.”
A Contentious Vance Appearance Last Year
The U.S. Government delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Rubio, as he has now officially announced. Last year, U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivered a controversially discussed speech complaining about the state of democracy in Europe and criticizing a lack of freedom of opinion and the exclusion of the opposition. He demonstratively met with AfD leader Alice Weidel on the sidelines of the conference.
Attention is now focused on whether Rubio will seamlessly follow up on this appearance in Munich. The crisis in relations between Europe and the United States will be one of the main themes of the conference. Following his participation in the conference, Rubio will visit Slovakia and Hungary, two countries that show particular closeness to Russia and the Trump administration in Europe.
