US Vice-President JD Vance has criticised the European Union at the Munich Security Conference, accusing European nations of anti-democratic behaviour.
Vance did not hold back, challenging European leaders on free speech, election integrity, and mass migration. “There is a new sheriff in town,” he declared on February 14.
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Vance warned that the greatest security threat came not from Russia or China, but from within: “The retreat of Europe from its most fundamental values — values shared with the United States.”
He referred to former European Commissioner Thierry Breton’s comments on the Romanian elections: “A former European commissioner sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election. If things don’t go to plan, the same could happen in Germany too.”
Vance hit out at European courts for cancelling elections and at officials for threatening to do the same elsewhere: “We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them.”
Comparing the situation to the Cold War, he stated: “Consider the side that censored dissidents, closed churches, and cancelled elections. Were they the good guys? Certainly not. Unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners.”
He criticised European leaders for, he said, being willing to shut down social media during times of unrest and for labelling speech as hateful content. He pointed to Germany’s raids on citizens over anti-feminist online posts and highlighted the murder of Salwan Momika and the conviction of Salwan Najem, both critics of Islam.
According to Vance, the UK was even worse, citing a man convicted for praying against abortion: “The Scottish Government warned citizens that even private prayer in their homes might break the law. The government urged people to report neighbours suspected of thought crimes.”
JD Vance went to the Munich Security Conference and roasted the entire continent of Europe for being petty tyrants and criminalizing freedom of speech, including a British man arrested for praying at an abortion clinic.
pic.twitter.com/o51VoWZ6Mr— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2025
Free speech was in retreat, he said, noting that even in the US, “the previous administration bullied social media companies into censoring so-called misinformation — like the idea that Covid-19 leaked from a lab”.
“But that era is over. In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. Under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to express them.”
Vance honed in on the EU’s handling of the Romanian elections: “Romania cancelled the results of a presidential election based on flimsy suspicions and pressure from its continental neighbours. If your democracy can be destroyed by a few hundred thousand dollars of digital ads, it wasn’t very strong to begin with.”
He called on European leaders to co-operate with right-wing nationalists and populists: “To many of us, it looks like entrenched interests hiding behind Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation to silence alternative viewpoints.”
Vance questioned what Europe was defending: “There is no security if you fear the voices, opinions, and conscience of your own people. You need democratic mandates to achieve anything of value.
“In America, you cannot win a mandate by censoring opponents or imprisoning them — whether that’s the leader of the opposition, a Christian praying in her home, or a journalist reporting the news.”
He then turned to mass migration, stating: “Almost one in five people in some EU countries were born abroad, an all-time high. The number of immigrants entering the EU from non-EU countries doubled between 2021 and 2022.
“This didn’t happen by accident but was the result of deliberate political decisions. We saw the horrors wrought by these decisions yesterday in this very city.”
Vance wondered how many more tragedies had to occur before policies change: “No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants. People are voting for leaders who promise to stop uncontrolled migration.
“Contrary to what you might hear in Davos, citizens don’t think of themselves as interchangeable cogs in a global economy. They don’t want to be ignored by their leaders.”
He also warned against dismissing public concerns: “Shutting down media, elections, or political opponents protects nothing. If American democracy can survive ten years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”
Vance concluded with a call to uphold democracy: “Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.
“Europeans, the people have a voice. European leaders have a choice. And my strong belief is that we do not need to be afraid of the future.”
