Rubio, in Greece, set to call for the West to restore founding democratic principles and values
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting Athens to deliver a speech advocating for a renewal of Western democratic values and civilizational roots. The address is framed as a call for unity between the U.S. and Europe, contrasting with previous, more confrontational rhetoric from other administration officials.
Why it matters
The speech signals a shift in U.S. diplomatic strategy, attempting to strengthen transatlantic alliances ahead of critical midterm elections.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to call for the nations of the West to return to their civilisational roots and restore the values that drove the rise of Europe and North America to global dominance for centuries.
In Athens to discuss deepening economic, energy and security cooperation with Greece, Mr. Rubio will deliver a speech later on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) near the ruins of the Acropolis, a widely recognizable symbol of the city's ancient civilisation associated with the creation of popular participatory government and the social contract.
The State Department, which is billing the speech as a major address on democracy and its future, says Mr. Rubio will “call upon Americans and Europeans alike to join together in a great renewal of the Western spirit — an inheritance stretching from Athens and Rome to Christendom to the founding of the American Republic.”
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