Germany says US vice president's accusations against Europe 'not acceptable'

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Germany's defense minister sharply criticized US Vice President JD Vance on Friday for claiming that European governments enforce anti-democratic policies and suppress critical voices.

At the Munich Security Conference, Boris Pistorius firmly rejected Vance's assertion that European countries were abandoning democratic principles.

"I must respond to the speech we heard earlier from the US vice president," the Social Democrat said, adding that while European democrats take a firm stance against right-wing extremism, they remain fully committed to basic rights and freedoms.

"Vance speaks of the annihilation of democracy and, if I understood him correctly, he is comparing the situation in parts of Europe to those in authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not acceptable," Pistorius said.

He emphasized that in Germany's democracy, every opinion has a voice, and far-right parties like the AfD continue their election campaigns today, just as other parties do.

"If the US Vice President had turned on the television when he arrived yesterday, he would have seen a leading candidate from this party on German television in prime time," he said.

In a fiery speech at the conference earlier on Friday, Vance criticized European politicians, institutions, and courts for what he described as a retreat from democratic principles.

Vance specifically criticized the recent annulment of the presidential election result in Romania, arguing that it undermined democratic foundations.

He also expressed concern over the exclusion of far-right AfD from political processes in Germany, arguing that such actions demonstrated a troubling trend of European countries dismissing their citizens' will.