In his speech at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance revisited the cancellation of the presidential elections in Romania, stating that the decision was made based on „weak suspicions from an intelligence agency and tremendous pressure from its continental neighbors.”
He challenged the notion that democracy can be destroyed by digital political promotion from a foreign country, as reported by The Guardian.
The American Vice President also referred to "pressures" on Romania exerted by other European states to cancel the elections, without naming them, however.
"The situation deteriorated to the point where Romania directly canceled the December elections based on flimsy suspicions from an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors. As far as I understand, the argument was that Russian disinformation affected the elections in Romania.
But if your democracy can be undermined with a few hundred thousand dollars pumped into digital advertising by a foreign power, it means it wasn't very strong from the beginning," Vance said.
He noted that freedom of expression is "in retreat" in Europe, criticizing several recent decisions by European states. "Looking at Europe today, it is not clear what happened to some of the winners of the Cold War," Vance said.
He then criticized the conference organizers for not allowing populist parties to participate in the event: "We don't have to agree... but at least engage in dialogue with them."
JD Vance then criticized the conference organizers for not allowing populist parties to participate in the event: "We don't have to agree... but at least engage in dialogue with them."
"For many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it increasingly resembles the old entrenched interests hiding behind the ugly words of the Soviet era like manipulation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that someone with an alternative viewpoint could express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote differently or, even worse, win elections," Vance emphasized.