# Europe Can Rekindle the Fire First Lit in Greece by Marco Rubio > “We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was lit here millennia ago. Across this continent, we are witnessing what we hope will be the beginnings of a generational shift: skyrocketing defense spending, a flurry of new partnerships and programs, and expanded manufacturing and production. Greece has been at the center of this shift. The people of this nation have proved themselves once again to be an indispensable friend to Europe and the United States alike, on everything from energy to migration to defense, where Greece has been a model ally. It is our sincerest hope that all of Europe will follow your example.” > **— Marco Rubio**, *Remarks at the Pnyx, Athens, October 7, 2026, 15:50–16:35* ## Sources and Context - **Primary recording:** [U.S. Department of State recording, 15:50–16:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOv1DpML7I4&t=950s), October 7, 2026. - **Official transcript:** [U.S. Department of State — Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks), October 7, 2026. The State Department page returned a technical-difficulties notice during the source-research pass; the audiovisual recording remains the controlling primary source. - **Prepared source record:** [[research/Secretary Rubio Delivers Remarks from the Acropolis in Athens|Secretary Rubio Delivers Remarks from the Acropolis in Athens]] preserves the complete spoken transcript, the attendance record, the source architecture, and this statement's position in the full address. - **Editorial record:** The readable quotation is a journalistic-clean rendering of the spoken delivery: punctuation, obvious caption defects, false starts, and non-substantive repetitions are normalized without changing the proposition. The complete uncompressed delivery remains available in the prepared source record for direct comparison. - **Context:** The speech identifies contemporary Greece as an actor within Western renewal rather than merely the site of its ancient origin. The renewal is measurable in defense, partnerships, manufacturing, production, energy, migration policy, and alliance reliability. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/War With Empire|War With Empire]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/war with empire/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Neo-Westernism|Neo-Westernism]] - [[wiki/Marco Rubio|Marco Rubio]] - [[wiki/Greece-United States Alliance|Greece-United States Alliance]] - [[wiki/Transatlantic Supersession|Transatlantic Supersession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We believe that Europe can awaken from its long slumber and rekindle the fire that was lit here millennia ago. Across this continent, we are witnessing what we hope will be the beginnings of a generational shift: skyrocketing defense spending, a flurry of new partnerships and programs, and expanded manufacturing and production. Greece has been at the center of this shift. The people of this nation have proved themselves once again to be an indispensable friend to Europe and the United States alike, on everything from energy to migration to defense, where Greece has been a model ally. It is our sincerest hope that all of Europe will follow your example.” — Marco Rubio, Remarks at the Pnyx, Athens, October 7, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-marco-rubio-europe-rekindle-greek-fire ```