German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country would not accept people who “intervene in our democracy”, one day after US vice-president JD Vance criticized European leaders.
In a speech delivered on Saturday morning, the German chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his position against the extreme right and declared that Germany would not accept people who “intervene in our democracy”, one day after the vice-president American JD Vance met the AFD leader and criticized European leaders.
Speaking at the Munich conference on security on Friday, Vance criticized the approach of European governments in terms of democracy and said that it feared that Freedom of expression on the continent is “in decline”echoing the words of the tenant of the White House, from Washington.
He said that many Americans saw in Europe “well -established interests hiding behind awful words from the Soviet era such as disinformation and mesinformation, and which simply do not like the idea that someone having A different point of view can express a different opinion or, God preserves us, vote differently, or worse, win an election. “
Vance said that he was not as concerned about Russia or China in terms of European security as by an “inner threat – a decline in Europe in relation to some of its most fundamental values, values that ‘She shares with the United States of America “.
On the sidelines of the event, Mr. Vance met Alice Weidel, co-director of the far-right party and alternative anti-immigration for Germany (AFD), nine days before the German elections.
As part of a long -standing position aimed at avoiding the far right in a country marked by Nazism, the main German parties have declared that they would not work with AFD.
Mr. Scholz reaffirmed that “Never again“is a historic mandate that Germany must and wants to respect – never again fascism, racism or war of aggression. He strongly criticized AFD, noting that certain members of the party had described the Nazi crimes as a simple” Bird shit “in history. He said that the principle of” never again “was incompatible with support or alignment on AFD.
Scholz responded to JD Vance’s comments by declaring: “Germany is a very strong democracy, and as a strong democracy, we are absolutely clear about the fact that the extreme right must escape political control and processes political decision -making, and that there will be no cooperation with it. “
“We really reject any idea of cooperation between the parties, the other parties and the far -right parties.
Alluding to the German rules which limit hatred speeches, he declared that “freedom of expression in Europe means that you do not attack others in a way that goes against the legislation and laws in vigor in our country “.
Exchanges between Scholz and Vance took place while European leaders are trying to understand Washington’s new hard line on issues such as democracy and the future of Ukraine, the Trump administration continuing to upset transatlantic conventions in Place since the post-secret world war.
Regarding Ukraine, Olaf Scholz has reiterated a common goal: to preserve the independence of Ukraine. He stressed that nothing should be decided about Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine and defended that future talks now include both Ukraine and Russia.
The commitment to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” does not stop with the end of the fighting, he added. Mr. Scholz also said that Ukraine should be supported in order to prevent any future aggression and stressed that Ukraine could not be alone and that it needed continuous support from the EU And from the United States, noting that the United States and Germany remained its greatest support.
US President Donald Trump had a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, during whom he said that the two leaders would probably soon meet to negotiate a peace agreement on Ukraine. Trump then assured the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he too would have a seat at the negotiating table.
On Friday, the Ukrainian leader said that his country wanted security guarantees before any discussion with Russia. Shortly before Meet Vance in MunichVolodymyr Zelensky said he would accept to meet Vladimir Putin in person after having negotiated a common plan with Donald Trump.
Additional sources • Adaptation: Serge Duchêne
