Full recording

https://singjupost.com/full-transcript-vp-jd-vance-remarks-at-the-munich-security-conference/?single=1

Introduction and thanks

WICE president JD VANCE: Well, thank you and thank you to all the delegates, personalities and media professionals gathered, and especially thank the host of the Munich safety Conference for the chance to organise specified an amazing event. Of course, we're excited to be here, we're happy to be here, and 1 of the things I wanted to talk to you about present is of course our common values, and, you know, it's large to be back in Germany, as you've heard before.

I was here last year as a U.S. Senator, I saw abroad minister David Lammy, and I joked that we both had different responsibilities last year than now, but now is the time for all of our countries, so that we all, who are fortunate to have received political power from our peoples, usage it wisely to improve our lives. What I'm saying is, I've been fortunate to be here for any time outside the walls of this conference in the last 24 hours. I am very impressed by the hospitality of people, even though, of course, they are struggling to recover from yesterday's terrible attack.

And the first time I was in Munich on a private journey with my wife who is here with me today, and I have always loved the city of Munich, and I have always loved its inhabitants, and 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 hold our fingers for you in the coming days and weeks.

Concerns about safety and European values

I hope this is not the last circular of applause I get, but we are gathering at this conference, of course, to discuss security, and we usually mean threats to our external security. I see many wonderful military leaders gathered here today, but while the Trump administration is very afraid about European safety and believes that we can scope a sensible agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and we besides believe that it is crucial that Europe enters large scale in the coming years to guarantee its own defence. The threat I am most afraid about in Europe is not Russia, it is not China, it is not any another external actor.

I am afraid about interior threats, the departure of Europe from any of its most fundamental values, the values we share with the United States of America.

It struck me erstwhile 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.

Now these disrespectful statements shock American ears. Over the years, we have been told that everything we fund and support happens 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 European courts calling off elections and high-ranking officials threatening to appeal others, we should ask whether we adhere to advanced standards. And I tell myself due to the fact that I believe we're on the same team. We request to do more than talk about democratic values, we request to live them.

Lessons from the Cold War

Now, in the vivid memory of many of you in this room, the Cold War has set the defenders of democracy against much more tyrannical forces on this continent. And think of the side in this fight that censored dissidents, closed churches, canceled elections. Were they good guys? surely not.

But thank God they lost the cold war. They lost due to the fact that they underestimated or respected all the remarkable blessings of freedom. Freedom to surprise, to make mistakes, to invent, to build. As it turns out, innovation or creativity cannot be ordered, as people cannot be forced to think, feel or believe.

And we believe that these things are definitely connected. And unfortunately, erstwhile I look at Europe today, it is sometimes unclear what happened to any winners of the Cold War. I am looking at Brussels, where EU Commissioners inform citizens that they intend to close social media in a time of social unrest at a time erstwhile they see what they consider to be, I quote, "contents full of hate." I am looking at my own country, where police raided citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of, I quote, "the fight against misogyny on the Internet, action day".

I am looking at Sweden, where 2 weeks ago the government sentenced a Christian activist for his engagement in the burning of the Koran, which ended in the execution of his friend. According to a horrifying justice in his case, Swedish laws allegedly protecting freedom of expression do not, in fact, admit, I quote, "free approval to do or say anything without the hazard of offending a group of those beliefs."

Fears of spiritual Freedom in Britain

And possibly the most disturbing thing is that I am looking at our very dear friends in Britain, where the departure from the rights of conscience has placed British fundamental spiritual freedoms at the centre of attention. A small over 2 years ago, the British government accused Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and army veteran, of a disgusting crime of standing 50 meters from the abortion clinic and silent prayer for 3 minutes.

He stood, without disturbing anyone, without interacting with anyone, just praying in silence on his own. After British law enforcement officials spotted him and demanded that he say what he was praying for, Adam simply replied that in the intention of an unborn boy whom he and his erstwhile girlfriend had removed years earlier.

Officers were not moved. Adam was found guilty of violating the fresh government law on buffer zones, which criminalize silent prayer and another actions that may influence the decision of a individual within 200 metres of 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 passed against 1 person.

But no, last October, just a fewer months ago, the Scottish government began sending letters to citizens whose homes are in the alleged safe access zones, informing them that even private prayer in their own homes could mean breaking the law. Of course, the government urged readers to study fellow citizens suspected of a thought crime. I fear that freedom of speech is in retreat in Britain and Europe.

Censorship in the United States

And in the interest of presentation, my friends, but besides in the interest of truth, I will admit that sometimes the loudest voices for censorship came not from Europe but from my own country, where the erstwhile administration threatened and intimidated social media companies to censor alleged misinformation. Disinformation, specified as the thought that coronavirus most likely leaked from a laboratory in China. Our own government encouraged private companies to silence people who dared to talk what yet proved to be apparent truth.

So I come here present not only with observation, but with an offer. Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence the people who say what they think, so the Trump administration will do precisely the other and I hope that we can work together on this. There's a fresh sheriff in Washington City, and under the leadership of Donald Trump, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to express them in public, whether we agree or not.

Cancellation of elections in Romania

Now, of course, we have reached the point where the situation has become so bad that in December of that year Romania simply cancelled the presidential election results, based on the shaky suspicions of the intelligence agency and the tremendous force from its continental neighbours.

If I realize correctly, the argument was that Russian misinformation affected the elections in Romania.

But I would ask my European friends for a small perspective. You can believe that Russia is incorrect to buy ads on social media to influence your choices. We surely think so. You can condemn this even on the planet stage.

But if your democracy can be destroyed with respective 100 1000 dollars for digital advertising from a abroad country, that means it hasn't been besides strong since the beginning.

The good news is that I think your democracies are much little fragile than many people seem to be afraid, and I truly believe that allowing our citizens to express their opinions will make them even stronger. Which, of course, brings us back to Munich, where the organisers of this conference have prohibited the legislators representing both left and right parties from participating in these talks.

I repeat, we do not gotta agree with everything people say, but erstwhile people, erstwhile political leaders represent an crucial group of voters, 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 the times of the russian Union, specified as misinformation and misinformation, who just don't like the thought that individual with an alternate viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote differently, or worse, win elections.

European defence and safety expenditure

This is simply a safety conference, and I'm certain you've all come here prepared to talk about precisely how precisely you're going to increase defence spending over the next fewer years in line with any fresh goal. And that is large due to the fact that president Trump has made it very clear that he believes that our European friends must play a greater function in the future of this continent. We do not think, you hear the term, about sharing a burden, but we believe that an crucial part of the common alliance is that Europeans are at the tallness of the task, while America focuses on areas of the planet that are in large danger.

But let me besides ask you how you're gonna start reasoning about this kind of budget issue if we don't know what we're defending? I've heard a lot in my conversations, and I've had quite a few large conversations with quite a few people here in this room. I've heard a lot about what you gotta defend yourself against, and of course that's important.

However, for me, and surely for many European citizens, it is simply a small little clear what you are actually defending.

What is the affirmative imagination that revives this common safety pact that we all consider so important? And I firmly believe there's no safety if you're afraid of the voices, opinions, and consciences that guide your own people. Europe faces many challenges, but the crisis that this continent is facing now, a crisis that I believe we are all facing together, is 1 of our own. If you run in fear of your own voters, America can do nothing for you, or, consequently, there is nothing you can do for the American people who chose me and elected president Trump.

In order to accomplish anything worthwhile in the coming years, democratic mandates are needed.

Have we learned nothing about the fact that weak parking tickets have unstable results?

The importance of democratic mandates

However, there are so many values that can be achieved through a kind of democratic mandate, which I believe will come from greater sensitivity to citizens' voices. If you want to enjoy a competitive economy, if you want to enjoy inexpensive energy and safe supply chains, you request mandates to govern due to the fact that you gotta make tough decisions to enjoy all these things, and of course we know that very well in America.

You can't get a democratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail, whether it's the opposition leader, the humble Christian praying in her own home, or the writer trying to study the news. Nor can you get it by ignoring your basic electorate on issues specified as who may be part of our common society.

The Challenge of Mass Migration

And of all the urgent challenges facing the nations here, I think there is nothing more urgent than mass migration. Today, nearly 1 in 5 people surviving in that country moved here from abroad. This is, of course, a evidence of all time. A akin number, by the way, in the United States, besides a evidence of all time. The number of immigrants who entered the EU from non-EU countries doubled between 2021 and 2022 and has evidently increased importantly since then.

And we know the situation, not materialized in a vacuum. This is the consequence of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians across the continent and others around the planet over a decade. We saw the horrors of those decisions yesterday in the same city.

And of course, I can't talk about 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 this even happen? This is simply a terrible story, but we have heard it besides many times in Europe and unfortunately besides many times in the United States. A asylum seeker, frequently a young man aged about 20 years, already known to the police, drives his car into a crowd and destroys the community.

How many times do we gotta endure these horrific failures before we change course and lead our common civilization in a fresh direction? No voters on this continent went to the polls to open the gate to millions of untested immigrants.

Do you know what they voted for? In England, they voted in favour of Brexit and agreed or disagreed, they voted for him. And they are increasingly voting across Europe for political leaders who promise to end uncontrolled migration.

I agree with many of these concerns, but you don't gotta agree with me. I just think that people care about their homes, care about their dreams, care about their safety and ability to supply for themselves and their children.

And they're smart. I think that's 1 of the most crucial things I've learned in my short life in politics. Contrary to what can be heard from the mountains in Davos, citizens of all our countries do not consider themselves educated animals or interchangeable modes of the global economy.

And it is not amazing that they do not want to be moved or ruthlessly ignored by their leaders. The task of democracy is to settle these large issues at the ballot boxes. I believe that rejecting people, rejecting their concerns and, worse still, closing the media, closing elections or excluding people from the political process does not defend anything. In fact, this is the surest way to destruct democracy.

And speaking and expressing opinions is not interference in elections, even erstwhile people express their views outside your country and even erstwhile these people are very influential. And believe me, I say this with all the humor, if American democracy has survived 10 years of Greta Thunberg's swindling, you will last a fewer months Elona Muska.

The Meaning of Listening to People

But what no democracy, American, German or European can last is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and fears, their aspirations, their requests for relief are irrelevant or unworthy of consideration. Democracy is based on the sacred rule that the voice of the people matters. There's no area for dams. Either you keep that regulation or you don't.

Europeans, people, have a voice. European leaders have a choice. And I am profoundly convinced that we do not gotta fear the future. You can accept what your people say, even if it's surprising, even if you disagree.

And if you do, you can face the future with certainty and conviction, knowing that the nation is behind each of you. And that, in my opinion, is the large magic of democracy. It's not in these 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 fights will be very few. As Pope John Paul II erstwhile said, in my opinion 1 of the most extraordinary defenders of democracy on this continent or on any other: “Do not be afraid.” We should not fear our people, even erstwhile they express views that do not agree with their leadership. Thank you all.

Good luck, everybody. God bless you.

JD Vance