On Saturday, German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz accused Vice President JD Vance of unacceptably interfering in his country's imminent elections on behalf of a party that committed the atrocities committed by the Nazis 80 years ago. .
A day after Vance surprised the Munich security conference by telling German leaders that they would drop the so-called firewall and allow Germany or the AFD to enter the federal government, Scholz effectively criticizes Vance. It violates its commitment to never allow Germany to be led by fascists who can repeat the horrors of the Holocaust.
“A commitment to “never again” cannot be reconciled with the support of AFD,” Scholz said at a Saturday morning meeting at the address that opens the second day of the rally.
Scholz said the AFD had minor Nazi atrocities like the Dachau concentration camp that Vance visited on Friday. The Prime Minister said Germany “does not accept” proposals from outsiders regarding how Germany implements democracy or instructions to work with such parties.
“It's not happening, certainly not among friends or allies,” Scholz said. “The place where our democracy goes from here is that we decide.”
Vance's speech was expected to hear more details about the Trump administration's plans for peace talks in Ukraine and NATO defense policy. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky himself focused on the Ukrainian war in his remarks, laying out the threats from the military in the Russian battle, and as Europeans bring safety to their hands The “European Army” complements our strength on the continent, giving it a passionate charm to the company and has a passionate charm, including forming.
His speech elicited a standing ovation, in contrast to Mr Vance's speech the previous day.
Saturday's security meeting session was dominated by a response to Vance's speech.
Scholz has been joined by his criticism by his rival Friedrich Merz as the conservative Christian Democratic prime ministerial candidate.
It was Soviet-style restrictions on freedom of speech across the continent that Vance scolded Europeans for his proposal on Friday. On Saturday, Merz defended German law banning certain forms of speech, including hate speech, and banned Nazi slogans, including social media.
He also suggested that Trump's administration is restraining speeches in the US. On Friday, the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed to the US Gulf after kicking out Associated Press from Pool and Trump's plane as telecoms refuse to go with Trump's orders.
“We stick to the rules given by democratic institutions,” Merz said. “Free speech remains free speech and remains part of our open democratic society. And fake news, hate speech, and crime are subject to legal constraints and independence. It is governed by the courts that have been in charge of it.”
“I think I should say it,” he added. “We would never have ousted the press from the prime minister's press room in front of an event that took place in DC yesterday,” he added.
The comments were the latest in a series of critiques of Vance's speech from German politicians before the election next Sunday. Scholz's Social Democrats run third or fourth in most polls. The AFD is second in the rankings, and its prime minister candidate Alice Weidel met Vance in Munich on Friday.
The German parliamentary party will not join together with the AFD to form a government. Some of the AFDs are classified as extremists by the German intelligence report. Several of its members were found guilty of violating German law, opposing the use of Nazi slogans. Others have been arrested for trying to overthrow the federal government.
The collective respect of the AFD and other extremist parties is known as the firewall. Vance set his sights on Friday, saying that the AFD and other powerful political parties in Europe expressed legitimate voters' concerns about the high levels of migration to European countries from the Middle East and elsewhere. .
“There's no room for a firewall,” Vance said.
The Vice President called restrictions on freedom of speech a greater threat to Europe than military attacks from Russia or China.
Skolts cheated Vance at that focus in a session of questions and answers after the speech. He was asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor of the economist Prime Minister, whether Vance is worthy of reflecting on in his speech.
“Do you mean all these very related discussions about Ukraine and security in Europe?” Scholz said it would garner laughs from the audience.
He then spoke directly to Vance's criticism of European speech restrictions.
“We need to be very clear that freedom of speech in Europe means that we are not attacking others in ways that go against the laws and laws that exist in our country,” Scholz said. Ta. “That's the truth. If you say this, there's no difference between the digital world and the analog world. And we have a very bad hatred for our society and all of this is the reality of public debate. It has to be very clear that it's not.”
In his remarks, Zelensky focused on the issue of European defence. He reiterated the position that while the US is crucial in securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, Europe also needs to step up. He pointed out what he said was an intellectual warning about Russia's plans to hold military exercises in Belarus next summer. He pointed out that Russia invaded Ukraine after deploying troops to Belarus under the guise of exercise.
“Europes need to come together and begin to act so that no one can say “no” to Europe.
In a conversation with CNN anchor Christian Amanpur after the speech, Zelensky also said that Ukraine needs to be at the table at the ceasefire talks and meet with President Trump before the meeting he has. I asked. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
“It depends on them and they can argue whatever they want, but without Ukraine it's not Ukraine,” he said.
