German Defense Minister Says VP Vance Slamming EU Leaders for Their Suppression of Free Speech ‘Is Not Acceptable’

EXCERPT:

PISTORIUS (via translator): “This is why I cannot just ignore what we heard before, I cannot not comment on the speech we heard by the U.S. vice president. We fight for your right to be against us. That is the motto, one of the mottos of the Bundeswehr and it stands for our democracy. This democracy that was just called into question by the U.S. vice president, not just the German democracy but Europe as a whole, he spoke of the annulment of democracy and if I understood him correctly, he compares the condition of Europe with the condition that prevails in some authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not acceptable. (Applause) This is not acceptable. This is not the Europe, not the democracy where I live and where I conduct my election campaign right now, and this is not the democracy 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 extremists, such as the AFD, and they can campaign just as any other party. This is democracy.”