Vance raised his concerns about threats to free speech in an address Friday before European leaders at the Munich Security Conference.
Vance says he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.
"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said.
Vance also told European leaders that “if you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” He said that no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns “are invalid or unworthy of even being considered.”
“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters," he said. “There’s no room for firewalls.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking a couple of hours later, said he couldn't let the speech go without comment.
“If I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes," Pistorius said. “That is unacceptable, and it is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning.”
