US VP: European politicians censoring free speech

Speaking to European political leaders, military officers and diplomats at the Munich Security Conference, Vance surprised the audience by dismissing the risk of Russian political interference in Europe, taking a similar stance to US President Donald Trump, who has railed against claims by US intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election.

Vance adopted a confrontational tone, accusing European politicians of what he said was a fear of their own people and warned them that the real threat against their democracy was not from Russia or China.

“The threat I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” Vance added.

The future of Ukraine was at the top of the agenda in Munich after a phone call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week where they pledged to work together to end the conflict, but Vance did not bring it up.

Instead, he stated Brussels had shut down social media over hateful content, and criticized Germany for what he described as raids against its own citizens for posting anti-feminist comments, Sweden for convicting a Christian activist, and United Kingdom for backsliding on religious rights.

A Reuters reporter in one of the side rooms where more delegates could listen to Vance said people appeared stunned and did not applaud.

Vance specifically targeted the December cancellation of Romania’s elections, which were annulled by the country’s top court after accusations of Russian meddling, dismissing worries of disinformation as “ugly Soviet-era words”.

“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” Vance said.

Romania’s Nov. 24 vote was annulled after declassified security documents said Romania had been a target of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks” during the election period.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the Romanian presidential election as “absolutely groundless.”

Vance questioned Washington’s support and funding of what was billed as a defense of democracy and support of Ukraine in the name of shared values.

“But when we see European courts canceling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we’re holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard,” he added.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stressed on Friday that a speech by Vance at the Munich Security conference felt as if the United States was ‘trying to pick a fight’ with Europe.

“Listening to that speech, they try to pick a fight with us and we don’t want to a pick a fight with our friends,” Kallas said at the Munich event.

Kallas added that allies should be focusing on bigger threats like Russia’s war on Ukraine.