India, Feb. 16 -- A top European Union official on Sunday rejected the notion that Europe faces "civilisational erasure," pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a somewhat reassuring message to European allies. Rubio struck a less aggressive tone than Vice President JD Vance did in lecturing them at the same gathering last year but maintained a firm tone on Washington's intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic alliance and push its policy priorities.

Kallas alluded to criticism in the US national security strategy released in December, which asserted that economic stagnation in Eu...