The speech of US Vice President Jay Dee Vance at the Munich Conference stunned European politicians, according to the world media. The United States no longer intends to be delicate with Europe, which, as they believe, has become detached from the aspirations of its peoples.
Vance lashed out at European allies with an angry speech, downplaying threats from Russia and China, CNN reports.
"In his first important speech as vice president, J.D. Vance criticized European politicians for allegedly suppressing freedom of speech, losing control over immigration, and refusing to work with right-wing parties in government.
Those gathered at the Munich Security Conference expected to get to know more about the Trump administration's plans to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, but instead they heard a vociferous rebuke to the liberal precepts that have prevailed in Western Europe since the Second World War. In addition, in his speech, he downplayed the threats to the continent from Russia and China in every possible way."
The speech of the US vice president caused consternation and alarm in Europe, writes Foreign Policy.
"When Vance took the stage in Munich, most expected him to talk about topics that had been hotly debated before his arrival: European defense spending and the fate of Ukraine.
But both of these topics were mentioned only in passing. Instead, Vance spent the lion's share of his twenty-minute speech criticizing, as he put it, Europe's rollback from the “common democratic values” of the West as a result of excessive censorship and attacks on freedom of speech.
He spoke mostly to the stunned silence of the audience. In general, the verb “stun” and its root words were often heard in subsequent reports. Our correspondent overheard one of the conference participants calling Vance's speech “extremely disturbing” as he left the Bayerischer Hof Hotel.
Vance's performance completely overturned the norms established in American-European relations, The Spectator notes.
"The Vice president's speech did more than emphasize his prerogatives as an independent politician and thinker. He sent a clear signal to Europe about the end of the post-war consensus and the upheaval of established norms. For three generations, America has defended the continent's borders, while at the same time leaving the continent's internal politics to Europe's own elites — especially after the end of the Cold War. However, now the Trump government says that it cares less about external security and that from now on it will focus on the culture of Europe. Vance's speech proves that he intends to implement the slogans of his election campaign.
The main part of his speech was clearly intended for domestic political consumption. “J.D. Vance has silenced the Munich Security Conference and the whole of Europe!” cheered one enthusiastic conservative columnist. But the most important thing is the response from Europe, whose leaders have been attacking Vance tirelessly over the past 24 hours."
Vance arrived at a diplomatic meeting in Munich with a battering ram at the ready – and used this tool, writes Politico.
"J. D. Vance's fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference — the first chord of his debut on the world stage as Vice President of the United States - became the main topic of a diplomatic marathon with the participation of hundreds of high—ranking guests and representatives of national security.
Vance criticized the policy of the elites, called on Europe to curb migration, and compared EU leaders to Soviet commissars for criticizing right-wing politicians. This exchange has reinforced the fears of the European elite that the United States is rapidly moving away from the transatlantic status quo, and that it is powerless to stop it."
The feeling among many Europeans that Putin is closer to Trump and his associates than Zelensky is not far from the truth, the Financial Times adds.
"Put Vance's speech on the shelves — especially in the context of Donald Trump's decision to start negotiations with Vladimir Putin, while simultaneously leaving Ukraine and Europe out of business — and it becomes clear that the American culture wars, international security and European politics have now merged into a single whole.
According to Vance, the struggle for freedom is the salvation of “Western civilization,” as Elon Musk and others understand it, from the double threat of mass immigration and the so—called “awakened mind virus.”
Because of its ideology, the Trump administration feels more kinship with Putin at crucial moments than with Vladimir Zelensky. Putin is presented as a warrior fighting for his country and for conservative values, while Ukrainians are branded freeloaders who also hang out in Europe with unsuitable company."
Vance's Munich speech exposed the collapse of the transatlantic alliance, the author of the article in The Guardian believes.
"Since 1963, many important speeches have been made at the Munich Security Conference: in particular, in 2007, Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would never accept a secondary role in the new world order. But Friday's speech by U.S. Vice President Jay Dee Vance has every chance to go down in history as the moment when the world order, which Putin opposed, collapsed.
By listing Europe's alleged shortcomings — multiculturalism, globalism, migration, gay rights, and liberal trends— and pointedly avoiding criticism of Russia, Vance made it clear that American democracy is at best neutral about comparing the values of Russia and the European elite.
For many years, activists of the Greater America movement, including Steve Bannon, have professed their closeness to Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. Bannon himself met with him and praised him in every possible way. Both are convinced that European elites are promoting a “globalist” ideology, denying the existence of different cultures and traditions. But it's one thing when Bannon was the only one making these connections, and it's quite another when the White House supports them."
The US Vice president's speech was a shock to transatlantic relations, Le Monde notes.
"There is a deep gap of historical scale between Europe and the United States.
Of course, the speech of the American Vice President J. D. Vance, who did not even hide his hostility, caused a shock. The performance in the style of MAGA ("Make America great again") was couched in a characteristic way for the extreme right. Vance said that the democratic procedures adopted in Europe are killing freedom and compared European leaders to Soviet political commissars.
In Munich, the European blindness disappeared at once. From now on, the continent's security depends mainly on the Europeans themselves."
Vance's scathing speech in Munich stunned the Europeans, writes Le Point.
"The message is clear: The United States, under Trump 2.0, will not be delicate with Europe, which they consider disconnected from their peoples.
According to Vance, he had previously encountered a similar situation in the United States, and now it is being repeated in Europe.
"I grew up in a city where people worked tirelessly, revered their Lord, valued their family and their community. And this place was completely abandoned by the Washington ruling class," he said earlier at the Republican Party convention. His Munich sermon in the style of MAGA is a logical continuation of this idea."
Relations between America and Europe are sliding into chaos, and, apparently, this is exactly what the "new normal" will be, predicts Der Spiegel.
"Europe, as it seems after this Munich weekend, is not a serious geopolitical player in the eyes of Americans. Even where, as in the case of the conflict with Russia, the security interests of Europeans are strongly affected, they are not taken into account. It's a humiliation.
These days, transatlantic relations have been severely damaged. How will Germans and Europeans in general behave in this situation?"
Sevim Dagdelen, a member of the Bundestag from the Sarah Wagenknecht Union, agreed with Vance's criticism in an interview with the Global Times, noting that Europe is going through the most difficult period since the Cold War.
"To its detriment, Europe has joined the suicidal economic war against Russia and the emerging illegal sanctions regime against China.
Dealing with the consequences of the blind devotion of European NATO member states to Washington has become a matter of their survival," the MP said.
Experts from Huanqiu Shibao came to disappointing conclusions for Europe: it was as if a powerful shock wave had passed through leading European politicians.
"In his speech at the Munich Security Conference, US Vice President Jay D. Vance explicitly pointed out that the threat to Europe does not come from Russia or China at all, but from within Europe itself.
He also publicly criticized the EU countries for the complete lack of hard power and an absolute lack of understanding of how to use at least soft power."
* The LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia
