From 3h ago 09.44 EST ‘Threat I worry most is threat from within,’ Vance criticises European leaders – summary US vice-president JD Vance has urged Europe to put forward a positive case for freedom and act against “the threat that I worry most, the threat from within” which he put as “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values” through restrictions on free speech, content moderation rules online, and political firewalls against radical parties. US vice-president JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images In a wide-ranging and fiery speech peppered with European references, he accused European leaders of abandoning their roots as “defenders of democracy” during the cold war by what he believes is the process of shutting down dissenting voices (14:51). He said they were increasingly looking “like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation … who simply don’t like that idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion” (14:55). He criticised “cavalier” statements from European officials “sounding delighted” about the cancelled presidential elections in Romania or expansive content moderation powers or other free speech restrictions in the US, Germany and Sweden, saying there were “shocking to American ears” (14:46). He also criticised European leaders for “running in fear of your own voters,” including on migration, saying that risks destroying democracy from within by disenchanting the population from taking part in democratic processes (15:01). He dismissed any criticism of Elon Musk’s alleged interference in European elections, saying “if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” He called for an end of political “firewalls,” a pointed reference to the German arrangement keeping out the far-right parties such as the Alternative für Deutschland, just nine days before the federal election next Sunday (15:01). But notably, he doesn’t say much about Ukraine, other than a brief comment that the US administration “believes we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine” (14:44). Share Updated at 09.50 EST
5m ago 12.25 EST The day so far – summary Jakub Krupa I am now handing this blog over to my US colleague Léonie Chao-Fong in Washington, as we await updates on Zelenskyy’s talks with JD Vance. Here are the three things you need to know from today’s Europe Live (so far): Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US vice-president JD Vance were locked in bilateral discussions at the Munich Security Conference this evening as part of Donald Trump’s push for a negotiated peace agreement to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (18:18). We will bring you more on this when we get it. But in his earlier comments, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for iron-clad security guarantees for Ukraine, saying that otherwise there is a risk of Russian aggression against Nato (12:41), and refused to recognise occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian (12:47). View image in fullscreen US vice-president JD Vance, state secretary Marco Rubio, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and defence minister Rustem Umerov attend a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich security conference. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters US vice-president JD Vance has urged Europe to put forward a positive case for freedom and act against “the threat that I worry most, the threat from within” which he put as “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values” through restrictions on free speech, content moderation rules online, and political firewalls against radical parties (15:44). View image in fullscreen US vice-president JD Vance addresses the audience during the Munich security conference. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP Pope Francis has been hospitalised for treatment of his ongoing bronchitis, the Vatican has said in a brief press statement. He also cancelled events over the next few days, as he is epxected to undergo further treatment. View image in fullscreen Frail Pope Francis meets prime minister of Slovakia Robert Fico. Photograph: ABACA/REX/Shutterstock If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. Thanks for all your emails and engagement today. I will see you again on Monday, BUT our Europe Live blog does not end here today, so don’t go anywhere yet – it’s over to Léonie in Washington! Share Updated at 12.28 EST
7m ago 12.24 EST ‘Missed opportunity’ for Vance to not address security issues, Norway PM says View image in fullscreen Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Store speaking in Oslo last month. Photograph: Cornelius Poppe/EPA Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre just offered his take on JD Vance’s speech. He says that the fact that he was able to deliver his speech at a keynote slot even if Europeans don’t agree with him show the freedom of speech is doing fine in Europe, thank you very much. “The vice-president can decide that this is how he would like to address his audience. He likes to raise these themes, and although we may disagree that is that is fair enough,” he says. But he pointedly criticises Vance for “not addressing some of the key security issues that we face today,” which he calls a “missed opportunity.” “What’s happening in Ukraine, what’s happening in Russia, what’s happening in China is less important than the presumed loss of freedom of speech in Europe? I disagree,” he says. Share
13m ago 12.18 EST Zelenskyy’s meeting with JD Vance – first picture View image in fullscreen US vice-president JD Vance, second right, meets with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, third left, during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Munich. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP Share
36m ago 11.54 EST Russian suspect of sabotage against Poland, US deported from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Polish PM says A Russian citizen suspected of acts of sabotage against “Poland, the US, and other allies” was arrested and deported from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Poland, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has just said in a social media post. He released no further details about the arrest nor the alleged acts of sabotage, but congratulated intelligence services and the prosecutor’s office saying the arrest further “confirmed hostile Russian activity.” Share
44m ago 11.46 EST Greece welcomes proposed EU changes to spending rules View image in fullscreen Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks during at a conference last year. Photograph: Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock Meanwhile, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed Ursula von der Leyen’s promise of changes to EU fiscal rules (14:30). “Greece has long advocated to exempt defence investments from fiscal constraints. We welcome the proposal … to activate the escape clause, enabling EU member states to strengthen their defence capabilities. A crucial step for our collective security,” he said in a social media post. Share
49m ago 11.42 EST Earlier today, Zelenskyy also met with a delegation of US senators. In a social media post, he said he expressed his thanks for “for the bipartisan support Ukraine has received since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, and for the contributions made to protect thousands of lives.” “The Russian Federation does not want to end the war and continues to escalate global tensions. That is why U.S. military support is crucial for Ukraine. Only in this way can we achieve a just and lasting peace,” he told them. Share
53m ago 11.37 EST Zelenskyy meets Vance on sidelines of Munich conference The meeting between the pair has now started, Zelenskyy’s press secretary told Reuters. We will bring you any top lines from their meetings when we get them. Share
1h ago 11.35 EST While in Munich, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy meets also with other, European allies. Earlier today, he spoke (and hugged) with Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda, who assured him that “Lithuania’s support for Ukraine is ironclad.” “Peace comes through strength, and we stand ready to further strengthen Ukraine’s defence,” he said in a social media post. He added that: The only acceptable peace is one that is sustainable, preventing the aggressor from further threatening Europe and the entire democratic world. Share
1h ago 11.28 EST Russian drone detonates on Chornobyl nuclear plant containment shell View image in fullscreen A handout photo made available by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showing damage to the shelter preventing radiation leaking from the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after being struck by a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead. Photograph: Iaea Handout/EPA A Russian drone carrying a high-explosive warhead struck the protective containment shell of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. He described the move, coming amid speculation about potential peace talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as “a very clear greeting from Putin and Russian Federation to the security conference.” 1:30 Russian drone explodes on Chornobyl nuclear plant protective shell – video Ukrainian security services said the drone was a Geran-2, the Russian name for the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, and had been intended to hit the reactor enclosure, Reuters noted. Zelenskyy said the damage to the shelter was “significant” and had started a fire, but he added that radiation levels at the plant had not increased. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, denied Moscow was responsible for the attack. Without presenting evidence, he said Ukrainian officials wanted to thwart efforts to end the war through negotiations between Trump and Putin. Russian drone detonates on Chornobyl nuclear plant containment shell Read more Share
1h ago 11.19 EST JD Vance’s speech – your reactions View image in fullscreen US vice-president JD Vance speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA I just wanted to share two more of your comments to JD Vance’s speech that particularly resonated with me. (Again, thanks for writing in!) First, from Oleksii, who said that Vance’s concerns, as legitimate as they may or may not be, “puzzlingly” ignore the much bigger issue of Putin Russia’s aggression on Ukraine. While I understand Vance’s concerns—growing support for far-right, alternative, and underdog parties does indicate that many people feel underrepresented, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed—I find it puzzling that he has chosen to place such emphasis on this particular argument. It feels like he is picking the wrong fight, much like Elon Musk and, more broadly, the Trump administration. Right now, the world is witnessing an ongoing, brutal violation of international law: a full-scale invasion launched by Putin. This is not happening because “Europe has given up its values,” but rather because Putin, instead of reflecting on why his vision of the world no longer fits within modern Europe and working to align Russia with these values, chose to force the world back to a past where brute power dictated order. And this from Bart, who agreed with lots of what Vance said and said it was just his way of expressing “tough love” for the continent: Europe, including Britain, is strangulating itself in a brew of deindustrialization, debt, failing social systems, unheard of levels of inbound migration, and a terrified leadership paralysis. European leaders nervously make speeches, but do almost nothing else. Britain and Europe ought to be grateful to Mr. Vance. Wayward children do sometimes need “tough love”. Share
1h ago 11.14 EST Ukraine-US talks in Munich could cover minerals deal Ignore the main stage for a second, and remember that somewhere on the sidelines of the conference the Ukrainian and US leaders will be meeting for bilateral talks on what’s next. Earlier today, Ukraine handed the US its proposals for the much-touted natural minerals deal. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US vice-president JD Vance are expected to discuss this as part of their meeting, which should be starting soon. US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told Fox on Friday that the plan was that such a deal would “intertwine the … Ukrainian economy with the US, making sure that US taxpayers receive the return for the money they put in.” Share
1h ago 11.06 EST Vance’s speech ‘unacceptable,’ German defence minister says View image in fullscreen German defence minister Boris Pistorius speaks during the 61th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA German defence minister Boris Pistorius said JD Vance’s intervention was “not acceptable”. “Democracy was called into question by the US vice-president for the whole of Europe earlier,” Pistorius said from the main stage at the 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,” AFP reported. Share
1h ago 11.04 EST ‘I don’t review decisions of independent courts,’ Swedish foreign minister replies to Vance In fact, let’s stay with reactions for a second, as Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has replied to Vance’s criticism of her country. The US vice-president’s comments were understood in Sweden as a reference to the conviction of Salman Majek, who participated in several Qur’an burnings in Stockholm, of incitement against an ethnic group. Man who participated in Qur’an burnings convicted of incitement in Sweden Read more Stenergard told TV4 that “Sweden has a very far-reaching freedom of expression,” and pointedly declined to comment about the case. “As a Swedish politician, I do not review [decisions by] independent courts, and I think politicians in other countries should also refrain from doing so,” she said. Meanwhile former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister Carl Bildt: The #MSC2025 speech by [US] VP Vance was significantly worse than expected. At best it was totally irrelevant to European or global security concerns. At worst it was blatant interference in the [German] election campaign in favor of far-right AfD. (Thanks to a reader in Sweden for bringing this to my attention!) Share
2h ago 10.52 EST JD Vance’s speech – your reactions Jakub Krupa View image in fullscreen JD Vance delivers a speech at the Munich Security Conference 2025. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/REX/Shutterstock I think it’s safe to say that you do have lots to say in response to JD Vance’s speech! Excellent. Thank you for taking the time to write in. The key theme in your responses is how many of you are concerned about the future of the transatlantic alliance. But it is also interesting how many of you pick up on Vance’s parallel between Greta Thunberg and Elon Musk, and point to the new administration’s on-going conflict with the AP news agency as an example of double standards in what he said there about free speech. Associated Press barred from Oval Office for not using ‘Gulf of America’ Read more Dan Coleman made me laugh noting some differences between Thunberg and Musk: Please let the record show that Greta Thunberg does not own arguably the most politically influential social media network, is not the richest person in the world and was 12 ten years ago. Tim writes: Misinformation is not about a difference of opinion, and Greta Thunberg, even at her most scolding, does not have the influence of the quarter billion dollars Musk put behind Trump’s campaign! Victoria: I found JD Vance’s speech so outlandish that I felt I needed to write this: it is pathetic for a grown man to compare a little, powerless Swedish girl to a billionaire at the American office. … Being afraid of a little girl is for losers, sorry. Rick: The desire of Europeans is not to shut down dissenting voices, but to recognise that there is an objective reality. There are such things as facts and truth. … This is a problem for human civilisation because if we can not agree on the nature of objective reality then we will not be able to deal with the serious problems that we face. Daniel picks up JD Vance’s point about Germany having to put up with Musk: Remarkable that he said Germany must put up with Musk when Trump accused the Labour party [of] foreign interference – cf Trump accuses UK’s Labour Party of ‘foreign interference’. Democracy just seems to be who can shout the loudest these days – nothing so “sacred”. Joe engaged with Vance’s comments on what is the point of restrictions on free speech: I feel JD Vance’s speech today has made clear the stark choice that Europe’s politicians face in the post-Trump world: to vacillate to avoid offending different voter groups, or to clearly and loudly defend liberal democracy on the world stage. We must state clearly why, in a liberal democracy, the only thing we are intolerant of is intolerance. We must remind ourselves and others of the terrible cost of forgetting that. And there are lots of responses from readers in Germany, frustrated by Vance’s comments on the firewall against the far-right, just nine days before the federal election, and what they see as his “exploitation” of yesterday’s Munich attack for political gain. Some of you also pick up on what you see as the irony of US Republicans, many of whom did not accept the result of the 2020 election, “giving Europe lessons in democracy” and accepting the view of the people. David Herrera Martí writes from Grenoble in France: My first thought upon listening to JD Vance was that he might have forgotten that his boss incited the January 6 Capitol attacks and tried to overturn a democratic process. This does not look like a beacon of democracy to me. Looking to the future, Clive said something that many of you worried about in your comments as you called for urgent work to ‘Trump-proof’ Europe: I think the response needed by Europe to today’s speech by JD Vance and earlier this week from Pete Hesketh is a simple one – we see in stark terms that the American government is no longer a reliable partner and – having failed to Trump-proof ourselves as one of your other colleagues correctly put it – we must do so now at maximum speed. Per picks up that point, too: My suggestion, for what it’s worth: the European leaders should speak softly while conceding as little as possible – and meanwhile move at the greatest possible speed, not only to rearm, but to build an alternative command structure that can disconnect from Nato. Oh, and we need our own nukes. But there are also voices saying that Europe should take note of Vance’s warnings, as Ryan eloquently explains: This was a seminal, powerful speech from a politician whose intellect is underrated by many Europeans. We can acknowledge the forcefulness of JD Vance’s speech even if we believe that Trump is a lawless thug. Focusing on the message (rather than the messenger), the reality is that many of Vance’s points are correct. He is right to criticise the EU and the UK for abandoning democratic ideals of free speech. He is right to observe that immigration policies in the EU and the UK could spell the death of the entire European project. And he is right to warn the EU and the UK that they cannot take American support for granted if an ideological gulf opens up across the Atlantic. Politicians on this side of the pond would be well advised to pay heed to Vance’s warnings. (Also, let me do a quick shout out to students from the City University of London who emailed about their blog; thank you!) Now, let’s go back to news and catch up on some of the developments in the last hour. Share Updated at 10.53 EST
3h ago 09.47 EST Jakub Krupa I think we can expect this speech to spark a debate in Europe, with many keen to respond to Vance’s criticism. What do you make of his speech? I’m on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I may not be in a position to respond to all your emails (sorry!), but will try to read them whenever possible. Share Updated at 09.48 EST
3h ago 09.44 EST ‘Threat I worry most is threat from within,’ Vance criticises European leaders – summary US vice-president JD Vance has urged Europe to put forward a positive case for freedom and act against “the threat that I worry most, the threat from within” which he put as “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values” through restrictions on free speech, content moderation rules online, and political firewalls against radical parties. View image in fullscreen US vice-president JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images In a wide-ranging and fiery speech peppered with European references, he accused European leaders of abandoning their roots as “defenders of democracy” during the cold war by what he believes is the process of shutting down dissenting voices (14:51). He said they were increasingly looking “like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation … who simply don’t like that idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion” (14:55). He criticised “cavalier” statements from European officials “sounding delighted” about the cancelled presidential elections in Romania or expansive content moderation powers or other free speech restrictions in the US, Germany and Sweden, saying there were “shocking to American ears” (14:46). He also criticised European leaders for “running in fear of your own voters,” including on migration, saying that risks destroying democracy from within by disenchanting the population from taking part in democratic processes (15:01). He dismissed any criticism of Elon Musk’s alleged interference in European elections, saying “if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” He called for an end of political “firewalls,” a pointed reference to the German arrangement keeping out the far-right parties such as the Alternative für Deutschland, just nine days before the federal election next Sunday (15:01). But notably, he doesn’t say much about Ukraine, other than a brief comment that the US administration “believes we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine” (14:44). Share Updated at 09.50 EST
3h ago 09.06 EST Jakub Krupa Oooph. Now take a deep breath and a sip of water. I’ll write a short summary for you. Give me a few minutes. Share Updated at 09.06 EST