EUROPE AWAKE. Marco Rubio has delivered a blistering attack on open borders, globalism and the erosion of national sovereignty in Europe.

The US Secretary of State warns from the ancient heart of Athens that the West risks sliding into ‘withering, servitude and decline.’

Speaking on Wednesday from the Pnyx, the ancient assembly site beneath the Acropolis, Rubio argued that Western governments had spent decades dismantling the very principles that had made their civilization successful.

Love of Nation Disparaged

‘Nationalism’ became a dirty word,’ Rubio said. ‘So, we tore down our monuments, we condemned our own history, and in too many places we taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit.’

Surrendered to the gathering enemies

‘In the process we opened our borders, and outsourced our industry, and allowed our militaries to wither and to decay,’ he added.

Rubio contrasted the globalist approach embraced by much of the European political establishment with the Trump administration’s ‘America First’ doctrine.

Europeans First

He argued that governments must put their own citizens above international institutions.

‘It has become fashionable today to believe that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the global community over one’s own people,’ he said

Europe a Nation

He insisted that the ancient Greeks understood that there was ‘nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation’ or defending its interests ‘above all else.’

The remarks are the latest broadside from Washington in an increasingly bitter ideological dispute with the EU over migration, censorship, and national sovereignty.

Europeans stabbed in the back by their leaders

The Trump administration has repeatedly portrayed Brussels and Western European governments as having betrayed their own populations.

US Vice President JD Vance has previously warned that Europe risks committing ‘civilizational suicide’ through uncontrolled migration and curbs on free expression.

At the Munich Security Conference last year, he argued that the continent’s greatest danger came not from Russia or China, but from an internal retreat from democratic values.

The administration formalised much of that critique in its 2025 National Security Strategy, which warned that Europe faces potential ‘civilizational erasure.’

Out of Control Invasion of Europe’s borders

LIFE IN THE REICH by historian Mike Walsh: The standard of living in Hitler’s Third Reich surpassed that of the developed world. Click the picture to discover more.

The trans-Atlantic clash has become particularly visible over immigration. Just this week, US President Donald Trump blamed violent unrest in France on ‘out of control mass migration,’ rejecting claims that the nationwide student protests were primarily about underfunded schools.

Europe Awake!

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz similarly blamed Europe’s ‘open borders’ and ‘unchecked immigration’ for growing public anger.

Rubio nevertheless stopped short of calling for a rupture with Europe. Instead, he urged the continent to follow Washington’s nationalist turn, praising Greece as a model ally and saying there were already signs of a broader shift.

Europe at the Crossroads

‘We believe that Europe can awaken from traitors within and rekindle the fire that was lit here millennia ago,’ he said.

The West, he warned, is now at the crossroads, with decisions made over the next decade potentially determining whether it remains at the center of global power or accepts a future of decline.

THANKS FOR SHARING WITH FRIENDS AND SOCIAL MEDIA