US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Europe to wake up from its ‘slumber’ and help ensure that Western civilisation retains its dominant position.
Rubio delivered his speech against the backdrop of the Acropolis.
– “We are at a turning point, not only in the history of my own nation, but for our entire civilisation,” said Rubio.
– The next decade will shape the history of the next century. The course we choose will determine whether the West retains its leading position in the world, or must resign itself to a future marked by decay, subjugation and decline. Either we choose to act now, or we will lose the opportunity to act at all.
Rubio’s speech aimed to highlight the fundamental ideological principles of an American conservative movement whose supporters regard President Trump as their leader, writes New York Times. NTB reports that Rubio ‘praised’ President Donald Trump, without quoting any part of the speech that fits that description.
– We are committed to the unconditional pursuit of national power, regaining control of critical supply chains, restarting the economy, rebuilding our defence forces and fighting for dominance over the technologies and industries of the future.
– There is a new rivalry between superpowers. There is vulnerability, aggression, terrorism – a whole universe of new threats and attacks. (NTB-AFP)
The Foreign Minister realised that he was standing in the cradle of civilisation. He said that the men of ancient Greece ‘knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to one’s country, nor about fighting to defend its interests above all else.’
– They believed – wholeheartedly – in the ideal of the ‘great man’: the exceptional individual who achieves immortality through his own deeds.
In Athens, Rubio reiterated much of what he had said to European leaders in his speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, where he spoke of a possible ‘annihilation of European civilisation’.
Historical heroes such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne and, strangely enough, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés were also mentioned in the speech. Rubio also mentioned some of the ancient Greeks’ enemies and heroes, such as the Persian army that ravaged Athens 2,500 years ago, and ‘the legendary final stand of the 300 Spartans’ at Thermopylae, against the Persians themselves.
Later in his speech, Rubio condemned the ‘radical mullahs in Iran’ – the ancient territory of the Persians which was invaded and conquered by Islam around the mid-600s.
On Wednesday evening, Rubio met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. On Thursday, he will travel on to Portugal.
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