By: Hon. Rob Roos, Distinguished Fellow
Some people get emotional when delivering closing remarks at a security conference, but I assure you, I will not be one of them.
At the Munich Security Conference last week, Christoph Heusgen, the event chair, was so shaken by JD Vance’s speech that he was moved to tears. And he wasn’t alone. The audience reacted with shock, disbelief, and unease. Why? Because JD Vance’s words forced them to face a reality they have ignored for decades.
Vice-President Vance stated: “The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values. Values shared with the United States of America.”
Vance was speaking about our Western values—freedom, sovereignty, and prosperity.
External threats exist, and we must take them seriously. We spoke about that today. But before we can resist these dangers, we must first address the internal threats—those who reject their own nations, dismantle our free markets, erode traditional families, and push for open borders, inviting radical ideologies that threaten our way of life. They cripple our energy independence, suffocate economies, and advocate absurdities, like the notion that men can bear children. These are the same people who claim
the EU was founded for peace yet panic when President Trump speaks of ending war in Europe.
The Trump administration’s message is clear: The U.S. wants to cooperate with Europe, but Europe must first clean up its own mess.
That message is to us. Our mess is the left-liberal bureaucracy—the overregulated EU dismantling our energy and food systems, crippling our economies, and flooding Europe with unchecked migration.
The Trump administration is willing to work with us, but not with EU bureaucrats who created this chaos. As JD Vance said: “If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.”
We, we must be strong. Conservatives often underestimate the left’s deeply entrenched power. Winning elections is not enough. It’s just the beginning, and time is short.
Consider our colleagues of Poland’s Law and Justice party. They held power for eight years but failed to uproot leftist influence. Now, the left liberals have returned stronger than ever. We saw this in Brazil after Bolsonaro, in the U.S. after Trump’s first term, and even in Hungary before Orbán secured his grip. But he learned, fought back, and took decisive action.
As the saying goes: You have to lose to know how to win.
So, let me be clear and I’m not holding back: When we return to power – each of us - we must dismantle the corrupt left-liberal network. We must defund their institutions and militant NGOs, expose their corruption, replace national broadcast leadership, secure free speech, promote our cultural heritage, control our borders, reclaim education, cancel harmful international treaties, restore reliable and affordable energy, and cut through EU bureaucracy.
This is exactly what President Trump is doing now. He has built a team of exceptional individuals, learning that time is limited and the left’s influence runs deep. We must be equally prepared and act decisively when our moment arrives. Leftist corruption must be uprooted completely. It must be eradicated, root and branch.
Beyond governance, we must protect our farmers—the stewards of our land—who provide natural, healthy food. As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wisely said: “We can have a thousand wishes, but if you are ill, you have only one wish left.”
We, as conservatives, understand this. Our modern Western culture has distanced itself too much from nature. That is why the Make America Healthy Again movement is as crucial as Make America Great Again.
And the same applies to Europe. We also have people of the MAHA movement here today and they are working to bring MAHA to Europe later this year. Alongside Make Europe Great Again, let us also Make Europe Healthy Again. A sound mind resides in a healthy body, and a healthy nation depends on the well-being of its people.
It is up to us to restore true democracy by making ‘We the People’ the focus of governance. And ‘by us’, I mean patriots—those who love their countries, cherish our continent and honor our cultural heritage. Those who respect the achievements of our ancestors and want to pass on peace and prosperity to future generations. Good governance can only come from a place of deep national love. It must come from the heart.
We must secure our freedom, economy, and security. Only then will Europe be a strong partner for the U.S. in this new era of MAGA. This is how we Make Europe Great Again.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Gold Institute for International Strategies and as the former Vice President of New Direction and the ECR, I sincerely thank you for your engagement today. Staying connected and supporting each other is essential.
And, as promised—I am not crying. We are at a pivotal moment in history, and I am filled with optimism. The future is bright, and I cannot stop smiling. Let’s enjoy lunch, then get to work reclaiming our nations and our future.
Thank you very much.
Hon. Rob Roos is a Distinguished Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington D.C.-based foreign policy and defense think tank.
