‘Rules-based world order no longer exists,’ says Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Munich Security Conference
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Rules-based world order no longer exists,’ says Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Munich Security Conference")
Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that in the era of great power rivalry, the United States could not go it alone. Photograph: (Screengrab from video on X)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the Munich Security Conference as a ‘seismograph’ for relations between Europe and the US and the state of the world order as a whole—and said the conference’s official theme, “under destruction”, is an apt description of that order.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany said in his keynote address at the opening of the Munich Security Conference 2026 on Friday that the rules-based international order had collapsed and criticised President Donald Trump’s reorientation of American foreign policy. However, Merz also extended an olive branch to Trump as he switched to English from German and addressed Americans as “friends” and warned that the United States could not “go it alone.” “The international order based on rights and rules is currently being destroyed,” Merz said at the opening of Europe’s largest annual security conference.
‘Conference a ‘seismograph’ for Europe-US relations’
The German Chancellor described the conference as a ‘seismograph’ for relations between Europe and the US and the state of the world order as a whole—and said the conference’s official theme, “under destruction”, is an apt description of that order.
“You’ve chosen a grim motto for this conference, ‘under destruction’, and it probably means that the international order based on rights and rules is currently being destroyed,” he said. “But I’m afraid we have to put it in even harsher terms: This order, as flawed as it has been even in its heyday, no longer exists.”
Merz also suggested that the Trump administration’s actions over the past year meant that the US’ claim to global leadership “has been challenged, and possibly squandered.”
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He also criticised Europe for not doing enough to bolster its security and to grow its economies independently of America, but insisted that Europe and the US need to continue working together, including through NATO.
‘Even the US will not be powerful enough to go it alone’
“In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,” he said. “Dear friends, being a part of NATO is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It is also the United States’ competitive advantage.”
The Chancellor said that repairing trust was the work of both Europe and the United States as the rift is real.
He also listed the ways in which Trump’s policies had deviated from the values Germans and other Europeans once believed they shared with America, including opposition to hate speech, the fight against climate change and support for free trade.
“A divide has opened up between Europe and the United States. Vice President JD Vance said this very openly here in Munich a year ago. He was right. The culture war of the MAGA movement is not ours,”Merz said.
Merz’s speech at the Munich Security Conference came at a critical moment for Europe, which is still hurting from Trump’s blunt diplomacy.
‘Transatlantic partnership needs a stronger Europe’: Wolfgang Ischinger
Wolfgang Ischinger, the chairman of the conference, said in his opening remarks that he hoped the event would help build a “constructive trans-Atlantic reset.”
But, he asked, “Does the Trump administration believe, truly believe, that it needs allies and partners?” He added, “If so—this is what we hope—is Washington actually prepared to treat allies as partners?”
“The transatlantic partnership needs a stronger Europe, but Europe will stand only if European nations stand together more closely than in the past,” Ischinger added.
In an aggressive speech at last year’s conference, Vice President JD Vance shocked attendees by castigating Europe’s migration policies and calling on its leaders to end the isolation of far-right parties across the continent.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to speak on Saturday morning.
