Vance’s speech at the conference shifted focus away from expected discussions on Ukraine and NATO defense policies. Instead, he criticized European nations for suppressing free speech and urged them to remove barriers preventing far-right parties from joining government.

In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio due to be broadcast on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Vance's remarks as highly unusual, adding that Germany had a firewall against extreme right-wing parties for a good reason, citing Germany's past under National Socialism.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met on Friday with Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, while on a visit to Germany, an official in Vance's office said, according to a pool report.

Olaf Scholz rebuked U.S. Vice President JD Vance for suggesting that far-right parties should not be shut out of government. Germany's other political parties have refused to work with the far-right AfD.

At the Munich Security Conference, Olaf Scholz accused the U.S. vice president of unacceptable interference in Germany’s coming elections.