Vance called out Germany and Sweden for the increased mass migration that has been remaking their populace, their laws, and their values even as asylum seekers stage terror attacks against European citizens. He blasted the decline in democratic norms as seen in Romania when a democratically run election for that nation's leader was overturned because he was not the preferred choice of the EU elite. And Vance took issue with the free speech and censorship laws in the UK where praying silently outside of an abortion clinic, blocking no one, praying due to your of grief, is illegal.
In response, Pistorius said "I cannot just ignore what we heard before. I cannot not comment on the speech we heard by the US vice president. We fight for your right to be against us."
"That is the motto, one of the mottos of the Bundeswehr [German armed forces], and it stands for our democracy. This demcracy that was just called into question by the US vice president, and not just the German democracy, but Europe as a whole. He spoke about the annulment of democracy. If I understood him correctly, he compares the condition of Europe with the condition that prevails in some authoritarian countries. Ladies and gentleman," he said to a round of applause greater than any Vance earned during his speech, "this is not acceptable.
"This is not acceptable," he went on, "this is not the Europe, not the democracy, where I live and where I conduct my election campaign right now. This is not the demcracy that I witness every day in our parliament. In our democracy, every opinion has a voice and it makes it possible for parties that are partly extremist, such as the AfD, and they can campaign just as any other party. This is democracy.
"And if the vice president has the opportunity to switch on his TV set when he arrived yesterday, he would have seen one of those candidates in prime time TV. By the way," he went on, "we even admit media that spread Russian propaganda and representatives of the federal government answer their questions. No body is excluded.
"But, democracy does not mean that a vociferous minority will automatically be right and they cannot decide what truth is. It does not mean that anyone can say anything and democracy must be able to defend itself against extremists that try to destroy it," Pistorius said.
For Vance, this is exactly the crux of the issue. What is the definition of propaganda to the German leader? What is the definition of extremist? In the US and UK, as Vance pointed out in his speech, these kinds of labels have been used to harm citizens for simply expressing their reasonable views. Is it extremist to pray for the loss of one's unborn child? Is it extremist to say men aren't women? Is it extremist to protect national sovereignty? These are questions not addressed by Pistorius as he pushed back against the American vice president's bold remarks.
"I am happy to live in Europe where this democracy is defended every day against its internal and external enemies. And therefore, I would like to explicitly contradict and oppose the impression that Vice President Vance suggested here that our democracies oppress and silence minorities," Pistorius said, seemingly missing the point of what Vance had said altogether. Vance wasn't speaking about minorities, but citizens who struggle to be heard over the progressive rhetoric laid down by elite leaders.
"We not only know against whom we defend our countries," Pistorius said, addressing Vance's statements directly, "but also what we defend it for. It's for democracy, for freedom of opinion, for the rule of law and dignity of each and everyone."
He went on to switch from German to English when he said "ladies and gentlemen, but unlike the vice president, I would like to focus my speech on the most pressing questions of European and Trans Atlantic security. The last days have confirmed," he said, pivoting to discuss the war in Ukraine, "what many have speculated for months. The United States are pushing for a quick peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine and they expect Europe to take the lead in securing any agreement that follows."
Ukraine and Russia are, of course, nations that lie on the European continent. It is European energy and security that are threatened by the ongoing war between those nations, which the United States has been funding to the tune of billions in aid and weapons to Ukraine. Vance's comments were not on the topic of that war, which has been the subject of negotiations between Trump administration officials and both Ukrainian and Russian leaders, but on his concerns for Western Civilization writ large.
"I'm sure you all came here prepared to talk about how exactly you would tend to increase defense spending over the next few years in line with some new target. And that's great," Vance had said, "because as President Trump has made abundantly clear, he believes that our European friends must play a bigger role in the future of this continent.
"We don't think—you hear this term 'burden sharing'—but we think it's an important part of being in a shared alliance together that the Europeans step up while America focuses on areas of the world that are in great danger.
"But let me also ask you: how will you even begin to think through the kinds of budgeting questions if we don't know what it is we are defending in the first place?" This is what Pistorius took issue with, the notion that Europe has let go of its own moral foundation and are free floating on a continent that offers its citizens nothing but over regulation and a lack of individual autonomy.
Vance went on to say that he's heard what the continent is defending itself from, but that it's seems "less clear" what "exactly it is you're defending yourselves for? What is the positive vision that animates this shard security compact that we all believe is so important?"
"And I believe," Vance said, his hand over his heart, "deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions, and the conscience that guides it's very own people."
European leaders did not enjoy being called out, especially when they are also being asked to contribute more funds to their own defense.
