US vice-president JD Vance has said he fears Europe’s “threat from within”, more than external actors such as Russia and China, in a confrontational speech that hit out at the state of democracy on the continent.
In an address to the Munich Security Conference, Vance criticised the cancellation of a recent election in Romania, the prosecution of an anti-abortion protester in the UK and a ban on extremist German politicians at the event itself.
“If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” he said. “The threat I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe . . . is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”
The speech came days after the Trump administration blindsided European leaders by announcing that it would begin talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders, before the Russian annexation of Crimea, was an “unrealistic goal”.
In Munich on Friday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen urged the bloc “avoid outrage and outcry” over Trump’s proposals on Ukraine.
Vance argued that Europe should not “just talk about democratic values” but “live them”, adding that it could not “force people what to think, what to believe”.
Vance added: “More and more all over Europe, they are voting for people who promise to put to an end uncontrolled migration.”
“Dismissing their concerns . . . shutting people out of the political process, protects nothing. In fact it is the most sure-fire way of destroying democracy,” he added.
The speech came hours after US President Donald Trump announced plans to introduce reciprocal tariffs, citing the EU as a likely target due to its imposition of VAT on exports.