Rubio in Greece urges West to revive roots while backing nationalism

Marco Rubio used a speech in Athens to urge Western nations to reclaim their civilisational roots while deepening ties with Greece. The address highlighted the Trump administration's bid to pair stronger alliances with an unapologetic America-first doctrine.Image used for representational purposes onlyAthens,Oct 8, 2026 06:32 ISTUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a speech in Greece on Wednesday to call on Western nations to return to what he described as their civilisational roots and restore the values that once drove Europe and North America to global dominance. Speaking against the backdrop of the Acropolis in Athens, Rubio argued for nationalism while also stressing the need for strong alliances.Rubio, who was in Greece for talks on deeper economic, energy and security cooperation, used the address to blend diplomacy with a broader political message. On the second leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies that began in Iceland and ends in Portugal on Thursday, he sought to reassure partners about US support while making clear that Washington would act in its own interests.Rubio said he wanted to remind his audience of qualities he believes were born in Greece and later came to define the West, including curiosity, courage, ambition, a spirit of exploration and a drive to discover the unknown. “It has become fashionable today to believe that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the global community over one’s own people,” he said. “And I think here, too, we have much more to learn from the men of ancient Greece. They knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation, nor anything selfish or wrong about fighting to defend its interests above all else.”He said the United States still wanted a strong partnership with Europe. “We must strengthen an alliance capable of confronting threats of our age. And we can,” Rubio said, as he urged Europe to join what he called the administration’s bold vision of the future. At the same time, he said Washington would continue to put its own interests first. “We will either choose to act now, or lose the choice to act at all,” he said. “Under President Trump, the United States has made its choice. We choose the unapologetic pursuit of national power.” Rubio also warned that decisions taken in the next decade “will determine whether the West maintains its place at the head of the world, or resigns itself to a future of atrophy and servitude and decline”. Even so, he said that despite “passions” straining US-Europe ties, allied countries must work to “rebuild our institutions and our alliances to face these threats together”. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused some European countries of moving away from traditional values and democratic principles, while several of those countries have rejected the criticism and accused the US under Trump of similar behaviour, pointing in particular to its hard anti-immigration stance. The address also had strong political overtones. The tone of Rubio’s remarks, the symbolic setting and the State Department’s use of a local television crew with multiple camera angles were closer to a campaign-style speech than a standard diplomatic address. The former Republican senator, who ran for the White House in 2016, referred to the history of Western civilisation and to his own family’s immigration story. “Two and a half centuries after the founding of the American Republic, halfway across the world from where I stand now, I stand here today as the Secretary of State of that Republic, and as the great-grandson of settlers who arrived in the New World from Spain,” Rubio said. “I stand here to testify to a debt that no lapse of time, no distance of space, can ever extinguish.” Along with Vice President JD Vance, Rubio is widely seen as a possible future leader of the Republican Party, which faces stiff challenges in next month’s congressional midterm elections. The speech also contained several historically dubious points, including the claim that the founders of the United States embraced the direct democracy associated with Athens. Rubio also praised Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts as an heir to the Athenian idea of exploration and pursuit of knowledge, even though Corts remains deeply controversial in Latin America for the conquest of the Aztec empire, large-scale bloodshed and the theft of treasure.Before the speech, Rubio declined to comment on allegations of misconduct against US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle. At a joint press conference with the Greek foreign minister, he said he would not address the matter while visiting a foreign country, but added, “Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.” The top Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Gregory Meeks, have opened probes into claims reported last month by The Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle acted improperly while serving as the top US envoy to Greece. According to the report, she told guests at a reception that the US could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr, has denied wrongdoing, and Rubio has defended her earlier as well. Ahead of Rubio’s visit, about 1,500 people gathered in protest against his presence and the war in Iran, chanting “American killers!” The demonstration was organised by a communist labour union and other left-wing groups before extensive road closures in Athens, and organisers said similar protests were held in at least 12 other Greek cities. Police also banned public demonstrations in central Athens on Wednesday. Rubio’s visit, speech and meetings in Greece together underlined both the Trump administration’s push for stronger alliances and its insistence on pursuing US national power above all else.With PTI Inputs- Ends