US vice president: America will not help Europe because of European approach to propaganda
US Vice President J.D. Vance was highly critical of the European Union’s approach to countering propaganda, including Russian disinformation, during his speech in Munich.
According to European Pravda’s correspondent, the core of Vance’s speech focused on denouncing the EU’s policies on countering fake news and propaganda.
Vance began his speech at the Munich Security Conference by stating that from the US perspective, there is no longer a shared democratic vision between the two sides of the Atlantic. "For years, we’ve been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values," he said, before arguing that for the new US administration, European values are no longer relevant, as European anti-propaganda measures, in his view, restrict freedom of speech.
As an example to support this claim, he cited Romania’s cancellation of the results of a presidential election due to alleged Russian interference.
"You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social media advertising to influence your elections... But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with?" he asked.
Vance stressed that for these reasons, he does not see room for cooperation in security matters either.
"I believe, deeply, that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people," Vance said. "If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor for that matter is there anything you can do for the American people…" he added.
Despite making such strong statements, Vance provided no details of any practical actions the US would take based on this stance. "Hard security" issues, such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, were conspicuous by their absence from his Munich Security Conference speech.
Currently, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated, Europe is rallying around Ukraine because of Trump.
At the same time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated in Munich that some of the comments made by US officials could be agreed on.