Germany's Merz warns rules-based order 'no longer exists'
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has told other world leaders that 'our freedom is not guaranteed' in an era of big power politics. Opening the annual Munich Security Conference, Merz said that Europeans must be ready to make a 'sacrifice'. He also admitted that 'a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States'. We'll speak to a senior German politician and a former member of the first Trump administration.
Also in the programme: a BBC Investigation uncovers devastating side effects of a set of widely used prescription drugs that can trigger impulsive behaviours; and we speak to the Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins about his memoir.
(Picture: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during the Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.7 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.0 | We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:15.7 | I'm Leila Nafu. |
| 0:16.9 | Let us start the programme in Germany, |
| 0:19.2 | where world leaders have been gathering in Munich to debate the most pressing challenges to international security, |
| 0:25.7 | and where last year, US Vice President J.D. Vance stunned his audience at the same conference with an address attacking European nations for failures on immigration and free speech, which heralded a major upheaval of |
| 0:38.9 | transatlantic relations. This year, J.D. Vance isn't leading the American delegation. Instead, |
| 0:44.3 | it's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who sounded a little more emoliant as he prepared to fly out |
| 0:49.5 | of Washington, D.C. I think they want honesty. They want to know where we're going, where we'd like to go with |
| 0:54.4 | them. And I think it's at a defining moment. The world is changing very fast right in front of us. The old world is gone. And we live in a new era in geopolitics. And it's going to require all of us to sort of re-examine what our role is going to be. We've had many of these conversations in private with many of our allies, and they are our allies, and we need to continue to have those conversations. |
| 1:13.9 | Well, this year, summit had many of these conversations in private with many of our allies, and they are our allies, and we need to continue to have those conversations. |
| 1:13.8 | Well, this year's summit was opened by Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Meertz, who acknowledged |
| 1:18.7 | the new security reality. The rules-based world order, he said, no longer exists, and a deep |
| 1:24.4 | divide had opened up between Europe and the U.S. |
| 1:32.9 | Over this conference, under destruction. |
| 1:38.1 | And it probably means that the international order, based on rights rights and rules is currently being destroyed. |
| 1:49.0 | But I'm afraid we have to put it in even harsher terms. |
| 1:54.0 | This order, as flawed as it has been even in its heyday, no longer exists. |
| 2:04.6 | Well, he went on to appeal to Washington to repair and revive trust, |
| 2:09.1 | while at the same time saying he'd begun talks with France on European nuclear deterrence. |
| 2:14.3 | President Macron of France, for his part, mounted a robust defense of Europe |
... |
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