The greatest threat to Europe is not Russia, but the threat that comes from within, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Friday at the Munich Security Conference. In an unusually direct address to some of the United States’ closest allies, Vance criticized European leaders for censoring free speech.
J.D. Vance stated that the threat to Europe that concerns him most is not Russia or China, but that “Europe is abandoning its core values, those it shares with the United States.”
“I was surprised when a former European commissioner enthusiastically spoke on television about how the Romanian government annulled entire elections. He warned that if things don’t go as planned, the same could happen in Germany,” Vance said.
The U.S. Vice President described this as “shocking to American ears,” as everything the U.S. has “funded and supported for years was done in the name of shared democratic values.”
“When we see European courts canceling elections and high officials threatening to annul others, we must ask ourselves whether we are upholding that high standard,” he said.
“Remember who censored dissenters, closed churches, annulled elections during the Cold War.”
Vance criticized Brussels for shutting down social media platforms over what they deemed hate speech, Germany for allegedly targeting its own citizens over anti-feminist comments, Sweden for convicting “a Christian activist involved in burning the Quran whose friend was killed,” and the United Kingdom for violating religious rights, citing the example of a Briton who was silently praying outside an abortion clinic and received a suspended sentence and fine. He added that in Scotland, people living near abortion clinics are banned from praying even in their own homes.
He reminded European leaders of the “tyrants from the Cold War era.”
“Consider which side in that fight censored dissenters, closed churches, and annulled elections. Were they the good guys? Certainly not. But thank God they lost the Cold War, because they neither valued nor respected the blessings of freedom. Freedom to surprise, to make mistakes, to invent, to build. As it turns out, you cannot mandate innovation or creativity any more than you can force people to think or do what you want,” he said.
Loudest Advocates of Censorship Came from the U.S.
Speaking on what he called weakened freedom of speech in Britain and Europe, Vance noted that the loudest advocates of censorship came from his own country.
“The previous administration threatened and bullied social media companies into censoring so-called disinformation. Disinformation like, for example, the idea that the coronavirus likely leaked from a lab in China; our government encouraged private companies to silence those who dared to state what turned out to be obvious truth,” Vance said.
He announced that he came to Europe with an offer.
“There’s a ‘new sheriff in town’ in Washington. And under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may not agree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to express them publicly,” he stated.
We Must Talk to Political Leaders Even If We Disagree With Them
Vance argued that “our democracies are far less fragile than people think” and will be even stronger “if we allow people to say what they think.”
“Which brings us back to Munich, where the organizers of this conference banned parliamentarians representing populist parties from both the left and the right from participating in discussions. We don’t have to agree with everything or anything these people say. But when political leaders represent an important electorate, it is on us to at least engage in dialogue with them,” he said.
Vance criticized the use of “ugly words from the Soviet era, like disinformation,” as a cover for simply not liking how someone else thinks, votes, or wins elections.
We Talk About Who We Defend Against, But What Are We Fighting For?
Trump, Vance reiterated, insists that Europeans must play a larger role in the future of their continent.
“If I may ask, how can we even think about budget issues if we don’t know what it is we are defending? During the great conversations I’ve had here, I heard a lot about who you need to defend against. But what is less clear to me, and I believe to many citizens of Europe, is what are you defending for? What is the positive vision that breathes life into this shared security arrangement we all believe is so important? I deeply believe there is no security if you fear the voices, opinions, and consciences of your people,” he said.
He added:
“If you run for office in fear of your own voters, America can do nothing for you, nor can you do anything for the American people who elected me and President Trump. You need democratic mandates to achieve anything of value in the coming years.”
A democratic mandate, in his words, cannot be won “by censoring and imprisoning opponents, whether that is an opposition leader, a Christian praying in their own home, or a journalist trying to publish news.”
“Nor if you ignore the question – who should be part of this shared society of ours,” he concluded.
Mass Immigration
Addressing mass immigration, Vance noted that one in five people living in Germany is foreign-born and called this the most urgent issue.
“This is the result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians worldwide over a decade. Just yesterday, we saw the horrors that resulted from such decisions. Why did this happen? It’s a terrible story, but we’ve heard it too often in Europe, and unfortunately in the U.S. as well. An asylum seeker, often a young man in his twenties, already known to the police, drives a car into a crowd. How many times must we endure these horrors before we change course and steer our shared civilization in a new direction?” he asked.
Vance noted that voters around the world are increasingly choosing leaders who promise to prevent uncontrolled mass migration.
“Dismissing the concerns of the ordinary voter, or worse, shutting down media, annulling elections, excluding people from the political process is the surest way to destroy democracy… Believing in democracy means understanding that every one of our citizens has a mind and a voice. And if we refuse to listen to that voice, even our most successful efforts will have little effect… We must not fear our people, even when they express views that disagree with those in power,” Vance said.
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Source: N1, Foto: AP Photo / Matthias Schrader