Why Rubio can’t be bothered to talk to Kallas

Much has been written about the Munich Security Conference, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech. Lauded by those who have longed for Western civilisation to pick itself back up and derided by those who still believe in a global citizenry, the speech was dissected, discussed, and debated around the world.

But what Rubio did not say – or more specifically, who he did not say it to – was also noted. While he was in Europe, Rubio met with a great deal of leaders and representatives. But there was one person he did not meet with: Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. While not quite his opposite, as the EU does not have a true foreign minister/secretary of state equivalent, Kallas is the closest thing. So why did Rubio not want to speak with her?

Because fundamentally, she and the liberal internationalists deal in fantasy, whereas Rubio, the Trump administration, and the ascendant nationalist Right deal in national interest.

This is not a shot at Kallas’ intelligence; it is, however, a shot at the things she has to say. Kallas’ speech, coming after Rubio’s, began with a cringe reference to Marvel movies (“Europeans assemble! And we are getting there, dusting off our capes, pulling on our boots, revving up our engines.”) Coming about seven years after such a reference would have been in vogue, it was made the worse by the realisation that she was comparing her colleagues, and herself, to the Avengers (the irony that the Avengers are led by Captain America, and that the only foreigners on the team are a Russian and a Norwegian god – who would not even represent an EU country – was lost on her).

Kallas quickly pivoted to her favourite subject, Russia, with the somewhat incongruent statement that Russia “is no superpower”, while going on to dedicate much of the speech to talking about what a massive threat Russia is to Europe. Her speech was full of contradictory statements, such as one agreement with Timothy Snyder – a citation almost as cringe-inducing as Marvel – that the EU must expand “to overcome Europe’s own imperial history.”

This is, fundamentally, the issue that Kallas faces, and the reason why Rubio had no interest in speaking with her: Kallas is a former Estonian prime minister, and she has continued to govern as a former Estonian prime minister. Estonia, a genuinely wonderful country, has spent its entire existence under threat from West and East; when it has been occupied, it preferred the West (as evidenced by memorials to SS soldiers outside Tallinn). As a result, Estonia’s entire foreign policy is dedicated to pushing off Russia. This is eminently reasonable for Estonia; it is not for all of Europe.

This is evidenced by the absurdity of Kallas’ demands, which included Russia’s military being decreased, Russia paying for damaged caused to Ukraine, and “no amnesty for war crimes”, which seems to mean that Russia would turn over accused soldiers. These are all morally fair demands, but they are completely unrealistic; there is no peace in which Russia agrees to cut its army down, pay for crimes, or turn its soldiers over. Why would Rubio meet with someone who is demanding fantasies?

It is telling, then, who Rubio did meet with: Prime Ministers Robert Fico of Slovakia and Viktor Orbán of Hungary. Rubio’s meeting with Fico was a historical surprise; Fico was once solidly part of the social democrats and was never particularly close to America. But his independence from Brussels and desire for an end to the Russo-Ukrainian War has caused the United States to take an interest in his success. Some have been flabbergasted by this, with one reporter asking Fico why he would meet with Rubio after criticizing America’s Venezuela raid. Rubio jumped in to defend him, saying, “I think you asked him a question in order to…see if you can get him against us with something about, oh, you criticized – a lot of countries didn’t like what we did in Venezuela.  That’s okay.  That was in our national interest.  I’m sure there’s something he’ll do one day that we don’t like, and we’ll say, hey, we didn’t like you did this. So what?”

Likewise, when Rubio met Orbán, he effectively endorsed the Hungarian in April’s upcoming elections. Observers were surprised, commenting that Rubio should have stayed out of the politics of other countries. But why? Intervening in Argentina’s recent politics paid dividends (literally) and helped Javier Milei’s party do well. It’s in America’s interest for Orbán to do well, so the secretary of state expressed as much.

This, fundamentally, is why Rubio did not meet with Kallas. Because he deals with national interest, whereas she deals in fantasy and platitudes. And again, this is not a shot at her: It’s a reflection of her actions and statements.

At the end of her speech, she finished with a quote from the Marvel movies, “Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.” The problem is that the saying does not appear in any Marvel movies whatsoever. She misattributed the quote, which actually comes from an unrelated young adult fantasy romance novel.

She fantasised it, one might say.