海角大神

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met the leader of a German far-right party during a visit to Munich on Friday, nine days before a German election and after lecturing European leaders about the state of democracy. He said there is no place for 鈥渇irewalls.鈥�

Mr. Vance met with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, his office said.

Mainstream German parties say they won鈥檛 work with the party, a stance often referred to as a 鈥渇irewall.鈥� Polls put Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in second place going into the Feb. 23 election with about 20% support.

News of the meeting came after top German officials pushed back hard against Mr. Vance鈥檚 complaints about the state of democracy in Europe, with the defense minister calling it 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� to draw a parallel with authoritarian governments. He and Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended German mainstream parties鈥� firewall.

Mr. Vance said Friday at the Munich Security Conference that he fears free speech is 鈥渋n retreat鈥� across the continent.

鈥淭o many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don鈥檛 like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,鈥� Mr. Vance said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking a couple of hours later, said he couldn鈥檛 let the speech go without comment.

鈥淚f I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes,鈥� Mr. Pistorius said. 鈥淭hat is unacceptable, and it is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning.鈥�

Mr. Vance also told European leaders that 鈥渋f you鈥檙e running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.鈥� He said no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns 鈥渁re invalid or unworthy of even being considered.鈥�

鈥淒emocracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no room for firewalls.鈥�

Mr. Pistorius countered that 鈥渆very opinion has a voice in this democracy. It makes it possible for partly extremist parties like AfD to campaign completely normally, just like every other party.鈥�

He noted that Weidel was on prime-time German television on Thursday night along with the other contenders.

But he added that 鈥渄emocracy doesn鈥檛 mean that the loud minority is automatically right,鈥� and that 鈥渄emocracy must be able to defend itself against the extremists who want to destroy it.鈥�

Mr. Scholz posted on social network X to 鈥渆mphatically reject鈥� Mr. Vance鈥檚 comments.

鈥淥ut of the experiences of Nazism, the democratic parties in Germany have a joint consensus 鈥� that is the firewall against extreme right-wing parties,鈥� he wrote.

Bavarian governor Markus S枚der 鈥� a prominent figure in Germany鈥檚 center-right opposition bloc, which leads pre-election polls 鈥� told reporters that 鈥渨e take every opinion seriously, but we decide ourselves with whom we form a coalition,鈥� German news agency dpa reported.

In a post on X earlier Friday, Ms. Weidel wrote, 鈥淓xcellent speech! 鈥楾here鈥檚 no room for firewalls!鈥欌��

Mr. Vance鈥檚 meeting with Ms. Weidel came after she was received on Wednesday by Hungary鈥檚 right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n. The vice president鈥檚 office said Mr. Vance also met Friday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and opposition leader Friedrich Merz, while he met Mr. Scholz earlier this week when both were in Paris for a summit on artificial intelligence

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St酶re took issue with how Mr. Vance urged European officials to stem irregular migration in Friday鈥檚 speech. Mr. Vance said the European electorate didn鈥檛 vote to open 鈥渇loodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.鈥�

鈥淗e speaks as though we are not focused on immigration in Europe,鈥� Mr. Gahr St酶re said. 鈥淚 mean, this is the big theme in every country, that we want to have control of our borders.鈥�

He argued that Ukrainian refugees accounted for a significant increase in unvetted immigrants in recent years 鈥� and they were accepted 鈥渂ecause there is a bloody war going on, which he did not mention, which I think is not really addressing reality.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with him that what鈥檚 happening in Ukraine, what鈥檚 happening in Russia, what鈥檚 happening in China is less important than the presumed loss of freedom of speech in Europe,鈥� Mr. Gahr St酶re said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. Mr.聽Moulson reported from Berlin.