JD Vance attacks Europe about freedom of expression and migration

The United States vice president, JD Vance, launched a scalled attack against European democracies, saying that the greatest threat facing the continent was not from Russia and China, but “from the inside.”

It was expected that Vance would use his speech at the Munich Security Conference to address possible conversations to end the war in Ukraine.

On the other hand, the majority passed by accusing European governments, including those of the United Kingdom, withdrawing from their values ​​and ignoring voters’ concerns about migration and freedom of expression.

The speech was received by silence in the hall, and then denounced by several politicians at the conference. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said “it was not acceptable.”

Vance repeated the Trump administration line that Europe must “advance in a great sense to provide its own defense.”

The Ukraine War was mentioned, and Vance said that he hoped that a “reasonable agreement” could be reached, after the surprise announcement of the president of the United States earlier this week that he and Russia Putin had agreed to begin the Peace conversations.

But Vance’s direction focused on the problems of cultural war and the key issues of the Trump campaign for the presidency of the United States, a deviation from the usual security and defense discussions at the annual conference.

He claimed that the “commissioners” of the European Union suppressed freedom of expression, blamed the continent for mass migration and accused their leaders of retiring from “some of their most fundamental values.”

The EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas characterized Vance as “trying to fight” with Europe, home of some of the closest allies in the United States.

Vance used his 20 -minute speech to highlight several European nations, including the United Kingdom.

Raised a legal case in which An army veteran who prayed silently outside an abortion clinic was convicted to violate a safe area of ​​150 meters around the center.

The safe zone, presented in October 2022, prohibits the activity in favor or against abortion services, including protests, harassment and vigils.

But Vance argued that the “basic freedoms of the religious British, in particular” were under threat.

Nine days before a tense national election in Germany, it touched a heated debate in the country around the main political parties that maintain a so -called “Firewall” of non -cooperation with the alternative of extreme right for Germany (AFD).

In the decades since democracy was restored in Germany after the defeat of the Nazis, there has been a consensus among its main political parties so as not to work with extreme right parties.

“Democracy is based on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters,” said Vance. “There is no space for Firewalls. Or you maintain the beginning or not.”

In his own speech, Pistorius went directly to Vance, saying: “The American vice president was called to democracy throughout Europe.

“He talks about the annihilation of democracy,” Pistorius continued. “And if I have understood correctly, it is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes … that is not acceptable.”

Vance also referred to the presidential elections in Romania, which was annulled in December after the suggested disclaimed documents Had been attacked by the interference of the Russian state.

Vance said to the conference: “If your democracy can be destroyed with a few $ 100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it was not very strong to start.”

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said his country remains “a defender of democratic values ​​that Europe shares with the United States.”

“All RO (Romanian) authorities are committed to organizing free and fair elections by empowering citizens and guaranteeing the freedom to vote,” he wrote in X.

Later, Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the conference, which has otherwise focused mainly on Russia’s large -scale invasion.

Zelensky said during the meeting that more work was needed to plan to put an end to the fight, while Vance said that the couple shared a “fruitful” conversation.

Trump had said that American, Russian and Ukrainian officials would meet in Munich, but Moscow has said that a delegation to the summit is not sending.