Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for foreign affairs, has publicly pushed back against US rhetoric portraying Europe as declining or “erasing” its civilisation. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, she defended Europe’s democratic model and human-rights agenda, while acknowledging that Washington and Brussels will continue to disagree on issues such as migration, climate policy and trade. The exchange underscores a growing struggle inside the alliance: how to keep security cooperation intact while political narratives diverge.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has rejected what she described as “Europe-bashing” from the United States, after senior American officials revived a narrative of a “woke” Europe in cultural and strategic decline. The comments, highlighted in a report by Euractiv, came as transatlantic leaders gathered in mid-February for the Munich Security Conference, a setting increasingly used not only to coordinate defence policy, but to contest competing ideas about the West itself.

“Not facing civilizational erasure”

According to The Associated Press, Kallas dismissed the suggestion that Europe is sliding toward “civilizational erasure,” a phrase that has circulated in recent US political messaging. “Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure,” she said in Munich, framing Europe instead as a place people still aspire to join—economically, politically and socially.

Her pushback was aimed at a broader argument that has gained traction in Washington: that European institutions have weakened free speech, encouraged uncontrolled migration and lost confidence in their own national identities. In this telling, Europe’s internal choices—not Russia’s aggression or China’s rising influence—are the central threat to Western cohesion.

The strategy document behind the dispute

Kallas’ remarks also pointed to language found in the US government’s National Security Strategy, released in December 2025, which warns that Europe’s challenges could become existential if present trends continue. Reuters reported at the time that the document criticises the EU on issues ranging from migration to political freedoms and calls for Europe to restore “civilizational self-confidence.” (Reuters)

Independent analysts have described the document as a sharp rhetorical break from earlier US strategies, interpreting it as an attempt to redefine alliance solidarity around cultural and ideological alignment, rather than primarily around common security threats.

Rubio’s softer tone, same fault lines

The immediate backdrop in Munich was a speech by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who struck a more conciliatory tone than last year’s confrontational messaging, while still pressing Europe on migration, climate policy and the shape of the alliance. Reuters quoted Rubio portraying the US as “a child of Europe,” while making clear that Washington intends to reshape cooperation on its own priorities. (Reuters)

European leaders, for their part, signalled they would not trade away core democratic commitments—pluralism, human rights, and rules-based governance—for the sake of diplomatic comfort. Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, cited by AP, argued that Europe’s “vibrant, free and diverse societies” are a source of strength, not weakness. (AP)

What this means for Europe

For Brussels, the political risk is twofold. First, a narrative that paints Europe as decadent or illegitimate can quickly become a justification for more transactional security guarantees. Second, cultural disputes can crowd out urgent coordination on Ukraine, defence industrial capacity, and deterrence—areas where shared interests still run deep even when rhetoric does not.

Kallas tried to draw that line clearly: solidarity on security should not require ideological conformity. She welcomed Rubio’s affirmation that the US and Europe remain intertwined, while acknowledging ongoing disagreements and insisting that cooperation must be built from “there”—not from caricatures. (AP)

In practical terms, Europe is likely to respond in the way it increasingly has since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: by accelerating defence readiness while trying to keep the alliance politically workable. The challenge is that defence spending and weapons production can be scaled up with budgets and contracts; trust is harder to manufacture.

For more background on how this debate is reshaping European strategic thinking, see The European Times’ related coverage: Marco Rubio’s Warning to Europe: Navigating a New Geopolitical Era.