Striking softer tone, Vance says US and Europe on ‘same team’

Striking a notably softer tone than his past remarks on Europe, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that the United States and the continent are on the same side.

“I do still very much think the US and Europe are on the same team,” Vance told the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington.

“I still think that this European alliance is very important, but I think that for it to be important and for us to be real friends with each other – and I think that we are very much real friends – we’ve got to talk about the big questions,” he said.

Vance shocked Europe when he used a February speech at a security forum in Munich to attack EU policies on immigration and free speech.

The vice-president charged in those remarks that free speech was in retreat across Europe, and that censorship was a bigger threat than Russian or Chinese military aggression.

  

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