‘I fear freedom of speech is in the reverse of my friends." "We have, of course, reached the point where the situation became so bad that in December of that year Romania explicitly cancelled the results of the presidential election". "I believe that there is nothing more urgent than mass immigration of all the urgent challenges facing the nations represented here." "I am looking at our dear friends, Britain, where the departure from the rights of conscience made the British fundamental spiritual freedoms a target" – these are just a fewer quotes from the strong U.S. Vice president JD Vance, who he gave in Munich.
Below we present the full transcript of the speech that U.S. Vice president J.D. Vance gave during the Munich safety Conference.
“One of the things I wanted to say present is of course our common values. It's large to be back in Germany. As you heard earlier, I was here last year as a United States Senator. I saw the abroad Minister David Lammy and joked that last year we both had different positions than now. But now it is time that all of our countries, all of us who were fortunate to receive political power from our nations, utilized it wisely to improve their lives.
I besides want to say that I have been fortunate to spend any time outside the walls of this conference in the last 24 hours and have been greatly impressed by the hospitality of the people, even if, of course, they are shocked by yesterday's terrible attack. This is the first time I've always been to Munich with my wife, who is here with me today, on a individual trip. I've always loved Munich and its people.
I just want to say that we are very moved, and our thoughts and prayers are from Munich and all the affected evils of this beautiful community. We think of you, we pray for you, and we will surely support you in the coming days and weeks.
We are gathering at this conference, of course, to discuss security. We usually mean threats to our external security. I see many, many large military leaders here. But while the Trump administration is very afraid about Europe's safety and believes that we can scope a sensible agreement between Russia and Ukraine. We are besides convinced that in the coming years it is crucial for Europe to step up its efforts to guarantee its own defence. However, the threat I am most worried about in Europe is not Russia, it is not China, it is not any another external entity. I'm worried about an interior threat. Europe's retreat from any of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America.
It struck me that the erstwhile European Commissioner had late appeared on tv and was delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled the full election. He warned that if things did not go as planned, the same could happen in Germany.
These careless speeches are shocking to the American ears. Over the years, we have been told that everything we fund and support takes place in the name of our common democratic values. Everything, from our policy towards Ukraine to digital censorship, is presented as a defence of democracy. But erstwhile we see the European courts canceling elections and high-ranking officials threatening to appeal others, we should ask ourselves whether we are keeping to advanced standards. I'm telling us ourselves due to the fact that I fundamentally believe we're on the same team.
We must do more than just talk about democratic values. We gotta live them. During the time of the vivid memory of many of you in this Chamber, the cold war set the defenders of democracy against much more despotic forces on this continent. Consider which side censored dissidents, closed churches, canceled elections. Were those the good guys? surely not.
And thank God they lost the cold war. They lost due to the fact that they did not appreciate or respect all the extraordinary blessings of freedom, freedom to surprise, to make mistakes, to invent, to build. As it turns out, innovation or creativity cannot be ordered, nor can people be forced to think, to feel or to believe. We believe these things are connected. Unfortunately, erstwhile I look at Europe today, it is sometimes unclear what has happened to any winners of the Cold War.
I am looking at Brussels, where European Commission Commissioners have warned citizens that they intend to shut down social media during social unrest: at a time erstwhile they see "hateful content", or at a country where police raided citizens suspected of publishing anti-feminist comments on the net as part of the "fight against misogyny" on the Internet.
I look at Sweden, where 2 weeks ago the government sentenced a Christian activist for his engagement in the burning of the Quran, which led to the execution of his friend. And as the justice pointed out in his case, the Swedish government allegedly protecting freedom of speech does not truly give – and I quote – a "free pass" to do or say anything without hazard of injury to the group that professes these beliefs.
And possibly the most disturbing thing is that I am looking at our dear friends, Britain, where the departure from the laws of conscience made the British's fundamental spiritual freedoms a target. A small over 2 years ago, the British government accused Adam Smith Conner, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and army veteran, of a hideous crime standing 50 metres from the abortion clinic and silent prayer for 3 minutes, without disturbing anyone, without interacting with anyone, just quietly praying alone. After British law enforcement authorities spotted him and demanded information about what he was praying for, Adam simply replied that on behalf of his unborn son.
He and his ex-girlfriend aborted him years earlier. Now the officers were not moved. Adam was found guilty of breaking the fresh government buffer zones bill, which penalizes silent prayer and another actions that may affect the decision of a individual located 200 metres from the abortion facility. He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds of legal expenses to the prosecution.
I want I could say it was a one-time, crazy example of a miswritten law against 1 person. But no. In October of that year, just a fewer months ago, the Scottish government began distributing letters to citizens whose homes were in the alleged “safe access zones”, informing them that even private prayer in their own homes could mean breaking the law. Naturally, the government called on readers to study any fellow citizens suspected of committing thought crimes in the UK and throughout Europe.
I'm afraid freedom of speech is in the reverse, my friends. I will admit that sometimes the loudest voices for censorship come not from Europe, but from my country, where the erstwhile administration threatened and intimidated social media companies to censor for alleged misinformation. Disinformation, specified as the view that coronavirus most likely leaked from a laboratory in China. Our own government encouraged private companies to silence people who dared to say what proved obvious.
That's why I'm coming here present not only with observation, but with an offer. And just as Biden's administration seemed desperate to silence people for saying what they think, so Trump's administration will do precisely the opposite, and I hope we can work together on this.
W Washington's fresh sheriff showed up. Under the leadership of Donald Trump we may disagree with your views, but we will fight for your right to express your opinion in public. Do you agree or not? We have, of course, reached the point where the situation became so bad that in December of that year Romania simply cancelled the presidential election results on the basis of the shaky suspicions of the intelligence agency and the large pressures from its continental neighbours. Now, as I realize it, the argument was that Russian disinformation infected Romanian elections. However, I would like to ask my European friends to look from a certain perspective. You can believe that Russia's buying ads on social media to influence your choices is wrong. We surely do. This can even be condemned internationally. But if democracy can be destroyed with a fewer 100 1000 dollars of digital advertising from a abroad country, it was not strong at first.
The good news is, I think your democracies are far little fragile than many people seem to fear.
And I truly believe that allowing our citizens to express their opinion will make them even stronger. Which, of course, brings us back to Munich, where the organizers of this conference banned the participation of legislators representing populist parties both left and right. Again, we don't gotta agree with everything people say. But erstwhile political leaders represent an crucial constituency, it is our work to at least participate in dialog with them.
Now, for many of us on the another side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old rooted interests hiding behind ugly words from russian times, specified as misinformation and misinformation, who simply dislike the thought that individual with an alternate viewpoint can express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote in a different way, or worse, win elections.
This is now a conference on security, and I am certain that you are all here prepared to talk about precisely how you intend to increase defence spending over the next fewer years in line with the fresh objective. That is large due to the fact that president Trump clearly said that he believes that our European friends will play a greater function in the future of this continent. We do not think that you can hear the word "burden sharing", but we believe that this is an crucial part of being in a common alliance, that Europeans are expanding their efforts, while America is focusing on areas of the planet that are in large danger.
But let me ask you, how do you even start reasoning about budget issues if we don't know what we're defending? I have heard a lot in my conversations, and I have had many, many wonderful conversations with many people in this room. I've heard a lot about what you gotta defend yourself against, and of course that's important. But what seems a small little clear to me, and I surely think that for many European citizens too, is precisely what you are defending yourselves for. What is the affirmative imagination that revives this common safety pact that we all consider so important?
I firmly believe that there is no safety if you fear the voices, opinions and consciences that guide your own people. Europe faces many challenges. But the crisis facing this continent now, the crisis that I believe we are all struggling with together, is our own work. If you're afraid of your own voters, America can't do anything for you. There's besides nothing you can do for the Americans who chose me and president Trump. You request democratic mandates to accomplish anything worthwhile in the coming years.
Haven't we learned that weak parking tickets give unstable results? But there are so many values that can be achieved through a democratic mandate, which I think will consequence from a greater consequence to citizens' voices. If we are going to enjoy competitive economies, if we are going to enjoy affordable energy and safe supply chains, we request mandates to regulation due to the fact that we gotta make hard choices to enjoy all these things.
Of course, we know that very well. In America, you cannot get a democratic mandate by censoring opponents or putting them in jail. Whether he is the leader of the opposition, a modest Christian praying in his own home, or a writer trying to convey the news. Nor can you win by ignoring your basic electorate on issues specified as who may be part of our common society.
I believe that there is nothing more urgent than mass immigration of all the urgent challenges facing the nations represented here. Today, nearly 1 out of 5 people surviving in this country moved here from abroad. This is, of course, a evidence of all time. Incidentally, it's a akin number as in the United States, besides the highest in history. The number of immigrants who came to the EU from non-EU countries doubled only between 2021 and 2022. And of course, it's grown a lot since then.
And we know the situation. It was not created in vacuum. It is the consequence of a number of informed decisions made by politicians across the continent and others around the planet over a decade. Yesterday in this town, we saw the horrors that these decisions led to. And of course I can't mention it again without reasoning about the terrible sacrifices that ruined a beautiful winter day in Munich. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and will stay with them. But why did it even happen?
It is simply a terrible story, but we have heard it besides many times in Europe and unfortunately besides many times in the United States. An asylum seeker, frequently a young man aged around 20, already known to police, drove his car into the crowd and crashed the community. Unity. How many times must we endure from these horrific failures before we change course and lead our common civilization in a fresh direction? No voters on this continent went to the urn to open the gate to millions of untested immigrants. But you know what they voted for? In England, they voted for Brexit. And you can agree with that or not, but they voted in favour. And more and more people throughout Europe are voting for political leaders who promise to end uncontrolled migration. I happen to agree with many of these concerns, but you don't gotta agree with me.
I just think people care about their homes. They take care of their dreams. They take care of their safety and ability to keep themselves and their children.
And they're smart. I think this is 1 of the most crucial things I have learned in my short time in politics. Unlike what you can hear in Davos, citizens of all our countries do not think of themselves as educated animals or interchangeable cogs of the global economy. And it is barely amazing that they do not want to be pushed around or constantly ignored by their leaders. And the task of democracy is to settle these crucial issues at the ballot boxes.
I believe that rejecting people, ignoring their concerns or, even worse, closing down the media, closing down elections or cutting people off from the political process does not defend anything. In fact, this is the surest way to destruct democracy. Voting and expressing opinions are not interference in elections. Even if people express their views outside their own country and even if these people are very influential – and believe me, I say this with all the humour – if American democracy can last 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you can last a fewer months Elona Muska.
But no democracy, American, German or European, will last telling millions of voters that their thoughts and fears, their aspirations, their requests for relief are invalid or unworthy of even considering.
Democracy is based on the sacred rule that the voice of the people matters. There's no area for firewalls here. Either you follow that regulation or you don't. Europeans, people have a voice. European leaders have a choice. I firmly believe that we do not gotta fear the future.
Accept what people tell you, even if it's surprising, even if you disagree. And if you do, you can face the future with conviction and confidence, knowing that the nation is behind each of you. And this is the large magic of democracy for me. She's not in those stone buildings or beautiful hotels. It is not even in the large institutions that we have built together as a common society.
To believe in democracy is to realize that each of our citizens has wisdom and a voice. And if we refuse to perceive to that voice, even our most successful fighting will not do much. As Pope John Paul II erstwhile said, in my opinion 1 of the most extraordinary advocates of democracy on this continent or on any other, “do not be afraid.” We should not fear our people, even if they express views that do not agree with their leadership. Thank you, everyone. Good luck to all of you. God bless you."
JD Vance, Vice president of the United States during a speech at the Munich safety Conference on February 14, 2025.
Source: spectator.co.uk, You Tube White House
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
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