From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

The only people applauding JD VanceAs blathering are the far right u and Russia

The vice-president of the United States fired a broadside of half-truths
and conspiracy theories about his allies in Europe u a continent already
close to war with Russia u in a rallying cry that will be roared out and multiplied by the far right everywhere.

In his keynote address at the Munich Security Conference, delivered to an auditorium packed with ministers of defence, generals and leaders from
across Europe and beyond, JD Vance said: oThe threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor.o

oWhat I worry about is the threat from within,o he announced to the
assembled securocrats.

They would have walked into the hall pretty sure that itAs RussiaAs open military and violent designs on Ukraine, the Baltic nations, Poland, and
much of the rest of eastern Europe, thatAs been keeping them up at night.

Nope. It was that a oEuropean commissionero had osounded delightedo that
the Romanian [presidential] elections were annulled last year by the
countryAs constitutional court after a hard-right, anti-Nato, pro-Russian candidate of notable obscurity won the first round amid a surge in
mysterious backing on social media.

The EU is investigating funding for his TikTok campaign, and Calin
Georgescu's appeal against the decision was rejected by the European Court
of Human Rights.

Meanwhile, in Moldova, Russia has been exposed for spending u
unsuccessfully u C100m on a campaign to get a pro-Russian candidate elected there.

oRomania straight up cancelled the results of a presidential election based
on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure
from its continental neighbours,o the US vice-president told Washington allies.

He was also concerned about the prosecution of a British anti-abortion campaigner for violating an exclusion zone around a clinic, which he saw as
an example of democracy being under attack.

As he went on, it became clear that JD was no longer a friend, and
certainly not an ally, of the kind of democracy Europe has enjoyed for 80 years.

oI look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide
away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs,o Vance said.

oIn Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.o

He didnAt say so, but his main target seemed to be the EUAs Digital
Services Act, which can ban and fine internet companies for violating laws within Europe u which include restrictions on hate speech.

This legislation, introduced last year, will affect Elon MuskAs X platform, and the Meta companies Facebook, Instagram and Threads, led by Mark Zuckerberg, who, like Musk, backs the Trump administration.

Musk, meanwhile, has been a vocal advocate of hard-right causes in Europe, backing GermanyAs far-right AfD party and amplifying and circulating conspiracy theories along with outright lies on the social media platform,
X.

oIf American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk. But what German democracy, what
no democracy, American, German or European, will survive is telling
millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations,
their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered.o

Federal employees are currently being made to take loyalty tests to ensure that their personal views are consistent with the aims of the Trump administration at all levels of government, or face the sack. JD didnAt mention that.

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, had already driven a wedge between
the US and Europe when he arrived for the Nato gathering earlier this week
and promptly gave up some of UkraineAs most important negotiating cards
ahead of a promised meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Hegseth said that Nato membership was off the cards for Ukraine, as was the presence of any US troops to ensure UkraineAs security, as part of any
peace agreement. On top of that, he said Ukraine could forget about getting back all the land Russia has taken by force.

Keir StarmerAs office said that he had promised Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine is on an oirreversible path to Natoo membership.

His stance was echoed by several other European officials who agreed with
the US position that Europe needed to spend more on its own defence.

That imperative becomes starker still, now that the US vice-president has revealed that heAs not much of a friend. Now, Europe must consider the US
an unreliable ally u at best.
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