The US vice president has said neither China nor Russia are the most serious challenge to the continent, but its retreat from core values
US Vice President J.D. Vance. © Getty Images/Johannes Simon Europe faces its greatest threat from within rather than from foreign powers, US Vice President J.D. Vance has said, expressing concern about what he called the continent’s abandonment of its core values. Vance told the Munich Security Conference on Friday that while Washington is preoccupied with the question of achieving a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine, Europe has bigger problems. ”The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor,” he said, adding “what I worry about is the threat from within.”
Vance mentioned a former senior European Union official, who went on TV to cheer the Romanian constitutional court’s decision to annul the first round of voting in the country’s December 2024 presidential election over supposed foreign interference. Vance suggested that the ruling was politically motivated, and made because things did not “go to plan” in the EU nation. The vice president also expressed confidence that “we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine.” He stressed that “it’s important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for its own defense.” “Of all the pressing challenges that the nations represented here face, I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration,” Vance also remarked. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Vance similarly claimed that mainstream parties in the EU are “kind of terrified of their own people.” He criticized attempts to dismiss dissenting viewpoints as somehow the result of “misinformation.” “If your democratic society can be taken down by $200,000 of social media ads, then you should think seriously about how strong your grip on or how strong your understanding of the will of the people actually is,” he argued. Aside from the controversy in Romania, he also referenced the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is considered extremist by the establishment. The annulled first round of Romania’s presidential election in November saw right-wing anti-establishment candidate Calin Georgescu come out on top with 22.94%, beating liberal leftist and social democrat candidates. The judiciary cited intelligence documents alleging “irregularities” in his campaign performance, without presenting any solid evidence though. The 62-year-old’s opponents have claimed that his promotional campaign materials on TikTok were funded by foreign actors, presumably Russia. The candidate is an outspoken critic of NATO, as well as Bucharest’s backing of Ukraine. Media reports later suggested that the alleged Russian interference cited by the court actually stemmed from a consulting firm associated with the ruling National Liberal Party. The claims had apparently been promoted by Context – a US-funded NGO. Meanwhile, a poll last month indicated that, if allowed to run in the new election slated for May, Georgescu could garner as much as 38% of the vote. Speaking to the French media in January, Former European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton welcomed the Romanian Constitutional Court’s decision, hinting that “we will have to do [the same], if necessary, in Germany.” Berlin is gearing up for a snap parliamentary election on February 23, with the right-wing Alternative for Germany party steadily gaining in popularity in recent months. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the Romanian presidential election as “absolutely groundless.”
