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A YEAR ON from JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference international leaders are gathering once again in the Bavarian city.
Last year Vance launched a tirade against what he said was Europe’s failure to adequately fund its own security.
Europe needed to bolster its own defences to allow the US to focus on threats elsewhere in the world, he told the delegates.
In a headline-grabbing speech, Vance also hit out at Europe on immigration and free speech, and called Donald Trump the “new sheriff in town”.
The atmosphere may be different this year, as the US has sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
America’s leading diplomat is due to talk tomorrow morning in a question and answer discussion with Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference.
That discussion is under the title of ‘The US in the World’ and is sure to focus on the Trump unilateral outlook.
“The world is changing very fast right in front of us,” Rubio told reporters, en route to Germany, when asked about his message to Europeans.
“We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it’s going to require all of us to sort of re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”
The Journal will be reporting from the event this weekend and talking to policymakers and other leaders in the international security sphere.
The conference is essentially a huge opportunity for senior officials and Government leaders to meet and discuss the issues of the day.
There are talks and events streamed from a hotel in the city but it is understood that much of the business is done away from the public at receptions and other events organised by individual countries.
Essentially, it is a mix of the various usual talking heads, former heads of government, corporate leaders and current world leaders.
Security is tight with large numbers of German police and other forces on the streets.
Aside from Rubio there are other US visitors.
Later today US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz is set to be on a panel with the EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas. That discussion is under the title ‘Breaking Point: The International Order Between Reform and Destruction’.
California Governor and staunch anti-Trump campaigner Gavin Newsom is also due to attend – as is Hilary Clinton.
Greetings from Munich in Germany where I will be covering the Munich Security Conference for @thejournal_ie.
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) February 13, 2026
It is an annual event for the world’s security policymakers to get together and discuss ways to deal with the current geopolitical uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/tIZJnC0XEF
More broadly, discussions will focus over the three days particularly on deterrence, as well as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and how to manage security in Europe without the guaranteed backing of the United States.
The conference has released a report entitled ‘Mind the Deterrence Gap: Assessing Europe’s Nuclear Options’.
It is compiled by the European Nuclear Study Group and looks at concerns that there is a shifting “global nuclear order”.
It said that European governments will have to “confront a strategic problem it can no longer afford to avoid” as Russia threatens attacks and US security guarantees appear at best unenthusiastic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in here this morning and is at the conference for meetings, including one with Rubio. He will speak tomorrow to the conference but today has been visiting a Ukrainian-German drone factory.
From an Irish perspective, Minister for Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee will attend the conference alongside Europe minister Thomas Byrne. Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces Rossa Mulcahy is also in town but is not expected to talk to the media.
In a statement, McEntee said that Ireland is “not immune to the effects of an increasingly volatile world” despite its policy of military neutrality.
“Like our EU partners, Ireland recognises the importance of strengthening both our national and collective preparedness across all aspects of security and defence.
“This will also be a key focus as Ireland prepares to take on the Presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year.
“In Munich, I will reaffirm Ireland’s strong and continued solidarity with Ukraine as it faces Russia’s aggression, nearly four years on from the full-scale invasion.”
The minister also welcomed the trilateral talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia but said these discussions must deliver a “just and lasting peace” and guaranteed sovereignty for Ukraine.
The minister said she will also enter discussions with various Governments about the situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East.
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