JD Vance, while speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, was anticipated to discuss potential negotiations to end the Ukraine war. However, he largely focused on criticising European governments, including the UK, for abandoning their principles and neglecting voter concerns about migration and free speech, the BBC reported.

Vance said attempts to regulate hate speech and misinformation on social media were more suited to communist regimes than free societies.

The senior official in Donald Trump’s administration said German efforts to ringfence the far-right Alternative for Democracy were anti-democratic and criticised a contentious court decision to scrap Romania’s presidential election. Vance also brushed off reports of Russian meddling in European elections, reported Bloomberg.

The annual security conference in Bavaria has long served as a platform to strengthen transatlantic ties, allowing Washington officials to engage with their European counterparts in discussions and knowledge-sharing. However, Vance took a different approach, launching a sharp critique of the European attendees without mentioning the Ukraine war.

The BBC report added that Vance’s address was met by silence in the hall, and later denounced by several politicians at the conference. German defence minister Boris Pistorius said it was “not acceptable”.

“He talks about annihilation of democracy and, if I understood him correctly, he compares the situation in certain parts of Europe to authoritarian regimes,” Boris Pistorius said on another panel shortly afterward. His speech elicited loud applause from the audience, reported Bloomberg.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that is not acceptable,” he said.

What did JD Vance say?

Vance said if democracy can be compromised by a few hundred thousand dollars of social media ads, then it can’t have been very strong in the first place and mocked European Union regulation of online speech as “ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation”.

“When I look at Europe today, it’s not clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners,” Vance said.

His remarks align with arguments made by European far-right groups, who have condemned restrictions on social media activity and efforts to limit their influence.

“The threat that I worry most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values,” CNN quoted Vance as saying.

The U Vice President — who earlier met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the conference — said “shutting down” unorthodox viewpoints is the “most surefire way to destroy democracy”, and called on European leaders to “embrace what your people tell you”, the report added.

Vance also targeted comments in January by Thierry Breton, a former European commissioner, who applauded the Romanian decision. “If necessary, we will have to do it in Germany as well,” Breton had said.

Romania’s top court sparked outrage in December when it annulled the presidential election, citing foreign interference after the shock victory of a far-right candidate in the first round.

Vance said those comments reflect a disdain for European voters, particularly those channeling frustration with established parties into support for anti-establishment groups.

“If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” Vance said. “Nor for that matter is there anything that you can do for the American people that elected me and elected President Trump.”

Romania reacts

Romanian government officials also said they were stunned by Vance’s comments, particularly after what they called positive US exchanges with foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu.