"Ugh..." When Scholz falters after Vance attack, the audience laughs

One day after US Vice President J.D. Vance's speech, Olaf Scholz appears at the Security Conference on Saturday. He finds clear words.

"This is not proper" - the words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday morning are unambiguous. Scholz sharply rejected statements by US Vice President J.D. Vance in favor of the AfD and forbade any interference in the German election campaign.

The SPD politician said on Saturday morning at the Munich Security Conference that National Socialism and its monstrous crimes had been trivialized by the AfD as a "bird's-eye view of German history". A commitment to "never again", as Vance made on Thursday during his visit to the Dachau concentration camp memorial, could not be reconciled with support for the AfD.

"Let's decide for ourselves"

"That is why we will not accept outsiders interfering in our democracy, in our elections and in the democratic formation of opinion in favor of this party," said Scholz. "That is not proper - especially not among friends and allies, and we firmly reject that."

The Chancellor added: "We will decide for ourselves what happens to our democracy." In the subsequent question and answer session, Scholz drew laughter when he was asked whether he could take anything positive from the US Vice President's speech. "Ugh, I'll have to think about that first," said Scholz to the amusement of the audience.

Vance had sharply attacked the European allies in his speech at the MSC on Friday and warned of a threat to democracy. He made an indirect reference to the German debate on distancing oneself from the AfD: "There is no room for firewalls."

Vance meets Weidel

He also met with AfD leader Alice Weidel on the fringes of the conference. There was no meeting with Scholz. This was attributed by the Chancellery to scheduling difficulties.

Frontal attack on Trump vice presidentMinister suddenly changes his speech after Vance attack

In his speech, Scholz also addressed the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In the negotiations with Russia, attention must be paid to the "sovereign independence" of Ukraine. In addition, the country must be enabled to achieve peace with extensive military aid for effective self-defense. "At the end of any negotiated solution, Ukraine must have armed forces with which it can fend off any renewed Russian attack. Financially, materially and logistically, this will be an enormous challenge," said the SPD politician. The Europeans and transatlantic partners would still be needed for this.

A Russian victory or a collapse of Ukraine would not create peace, warned Scholz. Even a dictated peace would never find Germany's support. "We will also not agree to any solution that leads to a decoupling of European and American security," he said