Vance says Europe can 'survive a few months of Elon Musk'

Vice President JD Vance accused European leaders of "hiding behind ugly, Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation" to shut down people with different viewpoints or who voted a different way.

In the speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, he argued against Romania's decision to shut down its presidential election over Russian interference, saying "speaking up and expressing opinions is not election interference."

He compared the Russian interference to Elon Musk, the world's richest billionaire who has been hugely influential in the Trump administration and who has joined President Trump for press conferences in the White House, and now-22-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.

"If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk," he added.

Thunberg was 12 years old ten years ago.

The vice president said that "shutting down" unorthodox viewpoints "is the most surefire way to destroy democracy."

'There's a new sheriff in town,' Vance tells allies

JD Vance tells the Munich Security Conference that some of the loudest voices for censorship had actually come from the U.S., under the Biden administration, but "there's a new sheriff in town."

"Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds... the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite.

"In Washington, there's a new sheriff in town and under Donald Trump's leadership, we may disagree with your views but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square of agree or disagree."

Vance: 'In Britain, and across Europe, free speech I fear is in retreat'

JD Vance launched a blistering attack on European laws, claiming that free speech was "in retreat" across the continent.

The U.S. vice president highlighted the arrest of a man in the U.K. who breached the buffer laws surrounding abortion centers, created to protect women from anti-abortion protesters, by praying nearby.

"Most concerning I look to our very dear friends in the United Kingdom where the back slides away from.. rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular, in the cross hairs," Vance said.

He highlighted a decision by the city of Brussels to leave Elon Musk's platform X over "hate speech."

Also the Constitutional Court's cancelation of the Romanian presidential race, lef by far right Călin Georgescu, over suspected Russian interference.

"When I look at Europe today, it's not clear what happened to some of the Cold War's winners," Vance said.

Vance claims U.S. concerned about 'threat from within' Europe

JD Vance criticized Europe's commitment to democracy as he said the U.S. was most worried about the "threat from within" the continent.

"The threat that I worry most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it's not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values," Vance said Friday.

Vance highlighted a decision by Romania's constitutional court to cancel the Romanian presidential race over suspected Russian interference as proof.

'A lot that this Europe can do,' says von der Leyen

Von der Leyen concludes her speech by saying that the bloc will "speed up" its accession process to admit Ukraine to the EU.

"Now is the time to move mountains," she says, adding that there's "a lot that this Europe can do."

Speaking during a question and answer session following the speech, von der Leyen also acknowledged that European countries urgently needed to pull up defense spending, something the U.S. has been forcefully pushing.

Von der Leyen says she will propose activating defense spending 'escape clause'

Von der Leyen says the European Union is a "period of crisis" and that she will propose activating "the escape clause for defense investments."

The EU clause for defense spending refers to a mechanism within the bloc's fiscal rules that allows member states to temporarily deviate from strict budgetary requirements when increasing defense expenditures in response to security threats.

"Of course, it must be done in a controlled and conditional way," she says.

German president takes a swipe at Trump administration

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has accused the Trump administration of ignoring established rules and "established partnerships and trust."

In a speech at the conference, Steinmeier said: "The new American administration has a different worldview than we do. One that takes no account of established rules, of established partnerships and trust."

He added that "rulelessness must not become the model for a new order of the world."

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen takes to the stage

It is up to Russian President Vladimir Putin "to demonstrate his interest is not to prolong this war," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says in her speech at the Munich Security Conference.

German president calls for higher defense spending, 'to prevent war'

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the Munich Security Conference that Germany needed to increase its defense spending, "not to wage war, but to prevent war."

Steinmeier said that the two percent spending target for military defense, set by NATO in 2024, is far below the figure needed.

"One decade later, we will have to spend significantly more than was agreed at the time. There is no way around it, and every new federal government will have to create the necessary financial leeway for this," he said.

Steinmeier is speaking after Trump urged NATO members to increase their spending, claiming that they had relied on the U.S. for far too long.

NATO Chief: Membership 'never been promised' to Ukraine as part of peace deal

Ukraine has "never been promised" NATO membership as part of a peace deal, the organization's Secretary General told reporters at the Munich Security Conference Friday, where the future of Ukraine is set to dominate proceedings.

"What we are talking about here is what is the best possible way to make sure a peace deal is lasting, that a peace deal is enduring and there are many ways to do that," Mark Rutte said, when asked if NATO was committed to Ukraine joining the alliance. "But there has never been said before...that when a peace deal would be done on Ukraine, that in that peace deal it should be NATO. Full stop. That's not the case."

"I know that many think that part of a peace deal should be NATO but it has never been promised to Ukraine that it would be part of the outcome," he continued.

On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that Ukraine's membership of NATO was "unrealistic," though he walked those comments back the following day, saying "everything was on the table" in peace negotiations with Russia.

Demonstrators hope to bring world leaders' attention to opposition to Tehran

Around the corner from where global leaders are meeting in Munich, dozens of people are blasting music and waving Iranian flags to bring the attention of senior world figures to the government in Tehran, and, crucially, the opposition to it.

Sahar, one of the demonstration's organizers, told Newsweek that they had timed their presence because they knew Tehran would be on the agenda at the Munich Security Conference, not least with concerns deepening over Iran's nuclear program.

The demonstration was organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a political organization of opposition groups based across Europe that opposes the regime in Tehran.

"Change is very close in Iran," Sahar said.

With high-profile U.S. figures like Vice President JD Vance in attendance, Sahar said she hoped political heavyweights would "recognize the right of resistance of the people of Iran."

Sahin Gobadi, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the National Council, said the "missing link" in Western policy towards for many years had been a lack of attention paid to internal opposition to the regime.

"At the end of the day, the change will come from inside the country," he told Newsweek.

Vance meets with UK foreign secretary on sidelines of conference

Trump will bring Russia back in from the cold says Hungary's PM Victor Orbán

Speaking on state radio, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the Trump administration will work to reintegrate Russia into Western economies and energy networks if the war in Ukraine comes to an end.

"If the American president makes peace, if an agreement is made, I think Russia will be reintegrated into the world economy, reintegrated into the European security system, and even European energy," said Orbán, a close ally of both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"This will give the Hungarian economy a huge boost. It's a big opportunity. We gain a lot in peace," he added.

Republican senator says Hegseth made 'rookie mistake' with NATO comments, Politico reports

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a "rookie mistake" earlier this week when he said it was "unrealistic" to expect Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 borders, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker said at the Munich Security Conference.

"Hegseth is going to be a great defense secretary, although he wasn't my choice for the job," the Mississippi Republican told Politico, "But he made a rookie mistake in Brussels and he's walked back some of what he said but not that line."

On Thursday, Trump's defense secretary said "everything is on the table" with regards to negotiations with Russia, pulling back on some comments he made Wednesday about how to achieve peace in Ukraine, including the country not joining NATO.

"I prefer we didn't give away negotiating positions before we actually get started talking about the end of the Russia-Ukraine war," Wicker said.

No Russian representatives at Munich conference says spokesperson

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says there will be no representatives of the ministry at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Russia denies striking Chernobyl nuclear plant

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Ukrainian claims that Russia hit the outer protective shell of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in a drone strike.

"There is no talk about striking on nuclear infrastructure, nuclear energy facilities, any such claim isn't true, our military doesn't do that," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Kremlin wants Vance to clarify comments about US troops in Ukraine

The Kremlin said it would seek clarification from U.S. Vice President JD Vance after he said sending U.S. troops into Ukraine remained "on the table" if Moscow won't agree to a peace deal.

"There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage," Vance said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

"These are new elements of the position, we have not heard such formulations before, they have not been voiced," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news channel RBC. "We hope that we will receive some additional clarifications."

Vance reiterates US demand for NATO members to step up defense spending

Vance met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Friday morning, reiterating the administration's call for the alliance's members to spend more on defense.

Currently, 23 of NATO's 32 member nations are hitting a target of spending 2 percent of their nation's GDP on defense.

"NATO is a very important military alliance, of course, that we're the most significant part of," Vance said. "But we want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future, and we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden sharing in Europe, so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia."

Rutte agreed: "We have to grow up in that sense and spend much more."

Russian drone strikes Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine

A reported Russian drone has struck the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, just hours before the Munich Security Conference kicks off.

The drone strike on the facility in northern Ukraine demonstrated that the conflict was still in full swing despite speculation about an imminent ceasefire agreement following Donald Trump's talks with Putin and Zelensky.

Read more from Maya Mehrara on Newsweek

Marco Rubio delayed by plane's mechanical fault

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was supposed to be joining a meeting between U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, but he was delayed after a cracked windshield forced his plane to return to Joint Base Andrews, spokesperson Tammy Bruce told Newsweek.

"The Secretary intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate air craft," Bruce said, though it was unclear if Rubio would make it to Munich in time for the meeting.