German Defense Minister Pistorius rebuffs US Vice President Vance's speech | DW News

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has heavily criticized JD Vance after the US vice president accused European governments of ignoring voter concerns on immigration and stamping down on free speech. "Democracy was called into question by the US vice president for the whole of Europe earlier," Pistorius said at the Munich Security Conference. "He speaks of the annihilation of democracy. And if I have understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regions... that is not acceptable." Pistorius accused Vance of painting a distorted picture of democracy. With the German elections just over a week away, and the far-right AfD in second place in the polls, Pistorius poured scorn on the notion that free speech was being stymied. Democracy means that "extremist parties such as the AfD can campaign quite normally, just like any other party. However, democracy does not mean that the loud minority is automatically right and determines the truth," Pistorius said. Earlier, JD Vance said that free speech was "in retreat" in Europe while mass migration was a topic being underestimated by nations across the continent. Chapters: 00:00 German Defense Minister Pistorius rebuffs US VP Vance 02:30 Teri Schulz, DW Correspondent 06:25 Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Bertelsmann Foundation #msc2025 #Pistorius #JDVance For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ For more news, analysis and background information on the German election 2025 go to our dedicated page: https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-2025/t-70794502 Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1