German and French ministers’ harsh response to Vance’s criticism of the EU

Germany’s defense minister has responded sharply to the US vice president’s criticism of democracy in the EU. Boris Pistorius called unacceptable the comparison of democracy in Europe with the system that prevails in authoritarian regimes by US Vice President J.D. Vance.

Pistorius said this in a speech at the Munich Security Conference.

German defense minister: This is unacceptable

The German defense minister noted that he could not start his speech as planned because he had to respond to J.D. Vance’s harsh criticism of the conference shortly before Pistorius’ speech.

“The vice president of the United States has just called into question democracy—not just German democracy, but democracy throughout all of Europe. If my understanding is correct, he is drawing a comparison between the conditions in Europe and the priorities of some authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is unacceptable,” Pistorius said, after which the room erupted in applause.

He emphasized that what J.D. Vance was talking about in his speech does not correspond to the democratic system that he is witnessing in the current election campaign and in the German parliament every day.

“In our democracy, every opinion has a voice; it allows parties, some of them extremist, such as Alternative for Germany, to participate in the campaign on an equal footing with other parties. This is democracy,” Pistorius said. He emphasized that Alice Weidel, the leading candidate of the AfD in the elections, can be seen on German television in prime time.

However, according to Pistorius, democracy must be able to defend itself against extremists who want to destroy it. He said he was proud to live in a Europe “that defends its democracy every day against internal and external enemies.”

French Foreign Minister responds to Vance’s controversial speech

On Saturday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot defended European policy after US Vice President J.D. Vance’s controversial speech at the Munich Security Conference.

The French minister wrote about this on his X account. Barrot noted that freedom of speech is guaranteed in Europe.

The French foreign minister stated, “No one is required to adopt our model, but no one can impose their own on us.”

“In Munich today, I am reaffirming 3 principles:

• 1. Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Europe.
• 2. When you’re sure of yourself and your values, you don’t feel threatened by criticism.
• 3. No one is obliged to adopt our model, but no one can impose theirs on us.”

In his speech in Munich, J.D. Vance harshly criticized the EU for its approach to countering foreign (Russian) propaganda and foreign meddling in elections, saying that Europe’s measures restrict freedom of speech.

Vance accused European leaders of suppressing freedom of speech and refusing to allow right-wing radical parties to come to power, citing the example of the cancelation of Romania’s presidential election results in December 2024.