Freedom of speech, NATO states’ role in their own defense, migration crisis: Key takeaways from Vance’s Munich address
US Vice President J.D. Vance spoke to leaders and experts at the annual security conference, calling on them to focus on problems at home rather than abroad

US Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a historic speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, which President Donald Trump has praised as “brilliant.” Vance touched on the most pressing issues facing Western democracies. Here are the key takeaways from what he said:

Democratic backsliding

Vance voiced concerns over the erosion of democratic values in Europe, highlighting cases where elections were annulled or threatened. He cited Romania’s presidential election, where the first-round results were overturned in November due to alleged foreign interference.

However, a December investigation found no evidence of Russian involvement in a social media campaign supporting independent candidate Calin Georgescu. Instead, the probe revealed his campaign was funded by the pro-Western National Liberal Party (PNL), contradicting earlier claims. Snoop reportedthat Romania’s constitutional court ultimately annulled the election.

“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,” Vance challenged, urging European leaders to uphold democratic principles.

READ MORE: Trump ejects from the Ukraine joyride, leaving the EU screaming in the backseat

Freedom of speech and censorship

Vance dedicated much of his speech to warning against rising censorship in Europe, criticizing EU regulations that allow governments to shut down social media and silence political dissent.

“I look to Brussels, where EU commissars warn citizens they intend to shut down social media… the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be, quote, hateful content,” he said.

He cited cases in Sweden and also in the UK where individuals faced prosecution for peaceful expressions of faith or political beliefs, including British Army veteran Adam Smith Connor, fined for silently praying near an abortion clinic.

“In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” Vance warned.

Drawing parallels with US policies, he accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media companies to censor content, contrasting this with Trump’s leadership: “We may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer them in the public square.”

Vance argued that Europe’s greatest challenge is not Russia or China but “the threat from within” – a retreat from fundamental democratic values shared with the US.

“We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them.”

European security and burden sharing

Vance reiterated the Trump administration’s stance that NATO’s European member-states must take greater responsibility for their own defense. 

“President Trump has made abundantly clear that our European friends must play a bigger role in the future of this continent,” he said, emphasizing the need for increased defense spending by NATO allies.

However, he also questioned the strategic priorities of European leaders. “I’ve heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from,” he said. “But what is less clear to me is what exactly you are defending yourselves for.”

The migration crisis

Vance has highlighted the profound impact of mass migration on European nations. He emphasized that the rapid influx of migrants is reshaping societies without explicit voter consent, asserting that no electorate has endorsed opening “the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

Vance noted that nearly 20% of the population in some European countries consists of individuals who have moved from abroad, marking an unprecedented demographic shift.

He argued that this surge has escalated security risks, citing an incident in Munich on Thursday where an asylum seeker, known to police, rammed a car into a crowd. 

Democratic governance and the role of people

Vance stressed the necessity of listening to the people, emphasizing that leaders must respect the democratic process rather than seek to manipulate or suppress dissent.

“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t.”

He warned against the dangers of ignoring the electorate’s concerns and argued that true security cannot exist without a government that is responsive to its people.

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

Mixed reactions from European leaders and experts

President Donald Trump praised Vance’s remarks, calling the speech “brilliant” and agreeing with his concerns about the erosion of free speech in Europe. However, some European officials were not so keen on the address.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius strongly rejected the US vice president’s assertions, calling them “not acceptable” and likening them to attacks from authoritarian regimes. Similarly, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed concern that the speech signaled the US was “trying to pick a fight”with Europe.

Kallas’ concerns about growing transatlantic tension were echoed by some Russian officials. Federation Council member Aleksey Pushkov remarked that the Trump-Vance doctrine fundamentally clashes with liberal European values and will inevitably strain US-Europe relations under Trump. Meanwhile, Russian Senator Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov described Vance’s speech as a “cold shower” for European Russophobes in an interview with RIA Novosti.

https://www.rt.com/news/612782-vance-speech-munich-security-conference/

 

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

 

 

 

È confronto-scontro con Trump ma l’Europa è ormai ridotta a un teatro dell’assurdo

 

Era scontato che la seconda presidenza Trump, arrivata tra l’altro dopo un successo elettorale quasi trionfale, potesse infastidire (dal punto di vista ideologico) o agitare (dal punto di vista dei rapporti di forza) l’arrangiaticcia Commissione Von Der Leyen, nata sulla base della più risicata maggioranza nella storia della Ue. Era difficile però aspettarsi che le tensioni esplodessero così in fretta e così clamorosamente, e mostrassero un’Europa così palesemente sull’orlo di una crisi di nervi.

 

by Fulvio Scaglione

It was obvious that the second Trump presidency, coming after a near-triumphant electoral success, could disturb (from an ideological point of view) or worry (from a power relations point of view) the von der Leyen Commission, born from one of the most fragile majorities in the history of the EU. However, it was difficult to foresee that tensions would erupt so quickly and so spectacularly, revealing a Europe clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Europe fresh from Trump’s threats of tariffs on European steel and aluminium, and in a matter of days he was dishing out a rant all over the place. The EU’s Digital Service Act? Absurd rules: protecting children from pedophiles is one thing, pretending to tell an adult what they can and cannot read is another. Artificial intelligence? We are not afraid of it, we will let it run free and become a global reference. Are you afraid of Russia and China? Rather worry about what you did in Romania and what you want to do in Germany… Aside from the ears of Thierry Breton, a great admirer of the work of the Romanian secret services that led to the cancellation of the first round of the Romanian presidential elections (would you buy a used car from the Romanian secret services?), you had to see the faces of von der Leyen and her colleagues.

The Ridiculousness of Kaja Kallas

But the real spark that lit the fuse was Donald Trump's veni, vidi, vici initiative on a hypothesis of negotiation between Russia and Ukraine to end the war triggered by the invasion ordered by the Kremlin on February 24, 2022. In two weeks, Trump reconnected with Vladimir Putin and convinced him, as well as Volodymyr Zelensky, to explore the possibility of a negotiation. It was too much! European nerves suddenly gave way, offering a spectacle halfway between the ridiculous and the pathetic. A reaction all the more incomprehensible since Europe has neither sought peace nor known how to win the war, and has aligned itself with the orbit of the American Democrats as if they were eternal tenants of the White House. It will be a pax americana, obviously, but what else can we hope for?

In the ridiculous characters section, Kaja Kallas comes out on top: the former prime minister of a country of one million people, incredibly propelled to the position of High Representative of the European Union, a country of 450 million people. Watch the video where Kallas claims that no deal on Ukraine will be worth anything without the EU’s participation. You won’t believe your ears. This is not just about the relationship between Trump’s US and von der Leyen’s EU, but also about the relationship with Ukraine.

Because even Zelensky accepted the idea of ​​negotiation. It is obvious that he is not happy about it, but put yourself in his shoes: the Russians are making progress, he is trying to enlist even young people aged 18 to 24 (with a 0% interest mortgage, what a godsend!) and he knows perfectly well (and says it every other day) that without the United States – and with only the EU on his side – hopes would be dashed. He knows it, but Kallas does not. What does she believe when she claims that an agreement between Russia, the United States and Ukraine would be null without the EU? That the EU would push Ukraine to continue the war? Or that the conflict should continue even against Ukraine's will?

Europe, a theatre of the absurd

This is a tragic theatre of the absurd that should be closed quickly. A theatre without borders. Emmanuel Macron, a great rhetorician, already exhorts: "Let peace not be a capitulation to Russia"He, of course, does not ask himself who contributed to getting to this point, which leaders (including himself) have repeated for three years that Russia must be defeated on the ground, strangled with sanctions and broken. And now that the opposite is happening, it is... Trump's fault.

I end with the ineffable Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, who does not want "our societies are destroyed by TikTok or X". He has probably already forgotten that he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Donbass crisis (2014-2022), and therefore the guarantor of the aborted peace process of the Minsk Agreements. Is he at peace with his conscience? Is he satisfied with the results of his work that have had such an influence on our societies?

One farce after another, with unfortunately some serious interludes. Like this report from the Danish secret services predicting a large-scale war between Russia and Europe within five years. A scenario also envisaged by the Poles, whose Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, already held this position during the Euromaidan in 2014. Same story as for Steinmeier. Or the hazardous comparisons between the Russian invasion of 2022 and Nazism, unsustainable in the face of any serious historical, political and military analysis, but which inexorably maintain a high tension in relations with Russia.

Russia's reaction

It is incredible that no one thinks about the harm done to Ukraine, on the verge of collapse, and the damage accumulated over the years by this obsession with assimilating every contemporary event to fascism or Nazism (except obviously for the militants of the Azov Battalion, who read Kant…), an obsession which, together with the way in which democracies are bringing down one state after another and massacring the Palestinians, partly explains why the real right is progressing everywhere: from France to Germany, from Austria to the Netherlands and Northern Europe (and Italy?).

Russia reacted late and angrily. Some idiots persist in believing that the Russians are big fools who eat children. Think about it and look around you: does Russian diplomacy seem so naive to you? If it reacts coldly, there are only two reasons. The first: Sergei Lavrov and his colleagues have the impression that some are trying to torpedo the prospects for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The second, consistent: Russia wants to reach an agreement. It is tired of this war that it started three years ago. On the ground, it is winning: is it not time to take advantage of it?

https://it.insideover.com/politica/e-confronto-scontro-con-trump-ma-leuropa-e-ormai-ridotta-a-un-teatro-dellassurdo.html

 

READ FROM TOP.

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

HYPOCRISY ISN’T ONE OF THE SINS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

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