Munich Security Conference as it happened: JD Vance says he fears Europe’s ‘threat from within’

US vice-president JD Vance has stated he fears Europe’s “risk from inside”, greater than exterior actors comparable to Russia and China, in a confrontational speech that hit out on the state of democracy on the continent.

In an deal with to the Munich Safety Convention, Vance criticised the cancellation of a latest election in Romania, the prosecution of an anti-abortion protester within the UK and a ban on extremist German politicians on the occasion itself.

“If you’re operating in concern of your individual voters, there’s nothing America can do for you,” he stated. “The risk I fear probably the most about vis-à-vis Europe . . . is the risk from inside. The retreat of Europe from a few of its most elementary values.”

The speech got here days after the Trump administration blindsided European leaders by saying that it might start talks with Russia about ending the warfare in Ukraine.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Wednesday {that a} return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders, earlier than the Russian annexation of Crimea, was an “unrealistic purpose”.

In Munich on Friday, European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen urged the bloc “keep away from outrage and outcry” over Trump’s proposals on Ukraine.

Vance argued that Europe shouldn’t “simply speak about democratic values” however “reside them”, including that it couldn’t “power folks what to assume, what to consider”.

Vance added: “Increasingly more throughout Europe, they’re voting for individuals who promise to place to an finish uncontrolled migration.”

“Dismissing their considerations . . . shutting folks out of the political course of, protects nothing. In reality it’s the most sure-fire approach of destroying democracy,” he added.

The speech got here hours after US President Donald Trump introduced plans to introduce reciprocal tariffs, citing the EU as a probable goal resulting from its imposition of VAT on exports.