German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a scathing rebuttal on Saturday to U.S. Vice President JD Vanceโs sharp criticism of Europeโs approach to hate speech and the far right.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Scholz made it clear that outsiders cannot dictate Germany and Europe on how to handle extremist movements.
Vance, addressing the conference on Friday, accused European leaders of suppressing free speech and took aim at Germanyโs mainstream political parties for maintaining a strict “firewall” against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The populist, anti-immigration party is politically struggling in Germany due to the countryโs deep historical aversion to ultranationalist ideologies stemming from its Nazi past.
โThat is not appropriate, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that,โ Scholz fired back on Saturday.
He underscored the โgood reasonsโ why Germany refuses to collaborate with the AfD, which has been polling around 20 percent ahead of the countryโs February 23 national election.
Scholz: ‘Never Again’
โNever again fascism, never again racism, never again aggressive war,โ Scholz declared, evoking Germanyโs painful history. โThat is why an overwhelming majority in our country opposes anyone who glorifies or justifies criminal National Socialism.โ
The German leaderโs remarks came after Vance met with AfD leadership. The U.S. vice president publicly endorsed the party as a legitimate political partnerโa move that Berlin swiftly condemned as unwelcome election interference.
Scholz also took aim at Vanceโs broader argument that Europeโs restrictions on hate speech amount to censorship. He said that such measures are vital to protecting democracy.
โTodayโs democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats,โ Reuters quoted the leader.
โThat is why we have built institutions to ensure our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies. These rules do not limit freedomโthey safeguard it.โ
‘No One Can Impose Theirs on Us’
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot echoed Scholzโs stance, reinforcing Europeโs sovereign right to set its own policies on hate speech.
โNo one is required to adopt our model, but no one can impose theirs on us,โ Barrot wrote on X.
Europe, he said, guarantees freedom of speech.
Scholzโs forceful response highlights a growing transatlantic rift over the balance between free expression and the fight against extremism. This rift has become more prevalent as Europe braces for key elections that could reshape its political landscape.
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