On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference 2026, former Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya weighed in on the shifting transatlantic dynamic. She noted a contrast between U.S. Vice President JD Vance's aggressive tone in 2025 and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "olive branch" approach in 2026. Both, however, essentially call on Europe to represent a U.S.-defined version of "Western civilization." Gonzalez Laya pushed back, stressing that Europe's values include tolerance, climate action and equality, and that Europe is not ready to compromise on these core principles.