World order 'no longer exists', Merz blasts 'lost' US leadership

The leaders of France and Germany delivered sweeping criticisms of President Trump’s treatment of the trans-Atlantic alliance, appealing at Europe’s largest annual security conference on Friday for a stronger Europe that could both work with the United States and confront Russia. At the Munich Security Conference, President Emmanuel Macron of France said, “Europe is rearming, but we must now go beyond” to become a unified major power, one that would be able to act accordingly not only on economics but also on security. “In this new geopolitical environment, Europe has to become a geopolitical power,” he said. “It’s ongoing, but we need to accelerate.” He dismissed accusations that Europe was decaying and defended its push to tackle disinformation and the excesses of social media ‌that were harming Western democracies.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered a stark message to world leaders, declaring that the global system built on shared rules has effectively collapsed. Addressing world leaders, Merz said “our freedom is not guaranteed” in an era increasingly shaped by big power politics and cautioned that Europeans must be prepared to make sacrifices. He also acknowledged strains across the Atlantic, saying “a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States.” “I fear we must put it even more bluntly: this order, however imperfect it was even at its best, no longer exists in that form,” Merz said.

The rules-based order is gone. He’s naming a truth leaders avoided for years. Order didn’t vanish; leadership hollowed out.

China stepping up isn’t the rupture, and it doesn’t automatically mean awareness or capability either. Power always fills vacuums when others lose ground.… pic.twitter.com/zckaLfm4vQ

— SunDeep Mehra (@SundeepMehra7) February 13, 2026

“In the era of great-power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,” he said. “Dear friends, being a part of Nato is not only Europe’s competitive advantage. It’s also the United States’ competitive advantage, so let’s repair and revive trans-Atlantic trust together.” He admitted that Europe’s “excessive dependency” on Washington was partly self-inflicted but insisted that Europe is stepping up.