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JD Vance has said Europe’s “threat from within” is graver than that posed by Russia and China, in a confrontational speech that suggested alleged infringements of democracy and freedom of expression would undermine US backing for the continent.
In an address to the Munich Security Conference, the US vice-president criticised the cancellation of a recent election in Romania, the prosecution of an anti-abortion protester in the UK and the banning of extremist German politicians from the event itself.
“The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor,” Vance said. “And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”
As dozens of European leaders, corporate executives and senior diplomats watched on grimly, Vance painted a picture of a continent where democracy was under threat from a disconnected elite.
“If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” he said.
In December, Romania’s constitutional court took the unprecedented step of annulling the country’s presidential vote, which had been unexpectedly won by the pro-Russian ultranationalist candidate Călin Georgescu.
The Romanian authorities have alleged his political rise was orchestrated by Moscow but have yet to provide evidence of illegal campaign financing or other ways Russia is alleged to have meddled. A new vote is due in May.
“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’,” Vance said.
Speaking just over a week before German elections, the US vice-president said there should be “no room for firewalls” in European politics.
Though he did not explicitly refer to the Alternative for Germany, his comments were hailed by the far-right party, which polls suggest will claim a second place in the February 23 election. “Excellent speech!” Alice Weidel, AfD co-leader, wrote on X.
Parts of the AfD have been designated as rightwing extremists by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
Berlin had expressed dismay at Vance’s interference in the country’s internal politics earlier on Friday, after he told the Wall Street Journal he would encourage European leaders to embrace anti-establishment parties such as the AfD.
“I don’t think it is right for foreigners, including those from friendly foreign countries, to interfere so intensively in an election campaign,” said a German government spokesperson.
The broadsides came days after European leaders were blindsided by the Trump administration’s announcement it would begin bilateral talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump’s move, which bypassed European capitals, has heightened concerns that the postwar security guarantee provided by the US is in danger of fraying under the new administration.
Vance said European allies planned to brief him on how they would increase their commitments to the continent’s collective defence. However, he said security would only come through addressing the array of social challenges he described.
“What has seemed a little bit less clear to me, and certainly I think to many of the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that you’re defending yourselves for,” the US vice-president said.
“What is the positive vision that animates this shared security compact that we all believe is so important?” he added. “And I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people.”
Vance also took aim at policies permitting mass migration in Europe, directly connecting the bloc’s immigration policies to an attack in Munich that injured 36 people on Thursday. “We saw the horrors wrought by these decisions yesterday in this very city,” he said.
A 24-year-old failed Afghan asylum seeker pleaded guilty to carrying out the attack, authorities said on Friday, as they suggested a likely Islamist motive.
Vance said: “More and more all over Europe, they are voting for people who promise to put to an end uncontrolled migration.”
He added: “Dismissing their concerns . . . shutting people out of the political process, protects nothing. In fact it is the most sure-fire way of destroying democracy.”
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