Constanze Stelzenmüller

I will just say this, that the American constitutional order has always privileged freedom of speech in ways that the Germans after 1949 felt that they could not do because of the horrific experience that they had just gone through. You have never had a Holocaust. You have never started a world war. We did.

And we felt that it was necessary to prescribe statements that declared allegiance to an ideology that had not just been toxic, but literally murderous.

And we felt that it was necessary to prescribe statements that declared allegiance to an ideology that had not just been toxic, but literally murderous.

And we felt that it was necessary to prescribe statements that declared allegiance to an ideology that had not just been toxic, but literally murderous.

Is that right? Well, I can say that I was there in Munich. I wasn't in the exact same room. I was in the overflow of the overflow, because that speech had been awaited with some, I think a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, is fair to say, by everybody there. And one of the things that was so startling about it was that everybody had expected a

Is that right? Well, I can say that I was there in Munich. I wasn't in the exact same room. I was in the overflow of the overflow, because that speech had been awaited with some, I think a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, is fair to say, by everybody there. And one of the things that was so startling about it was that everybody had expected a

Is that right? Well, I can say that I was there in Munich. I wasn't in the exact same room. I was in the overflow of the overflow, because that speech had been awaited with some, I think a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, is fair to say, by everybody there. And one of the things that was so startling about it was that everybody had expected a

speech about foreign and security policy, about the future of NATO, about the peace negotiations with Ukraine and Russia. And instead of which, the vice president said the greatest threat to security in Europe was not external, but the threat to freedom and democracy.

speech about foreign and security policy, about the future of NATO, about the peace negotiations with Ukraine and Russia. And instead of which, the vice president said the greatest threat to security in Europe was not external, but the threat to freedom and democracy.

speech about foreign and security policy, about the future of NATO, about the peace negotiations with Ukraine and Russia. And instead of which, the vice president said the greatest threat to security in Europe was not external, but the threat to freedom and democracy.

That's something with which I think 95% of those present at the conference and listening to him would have begged to differ. I mean, it's extraordinary. We are in the middle of a war in Europe, right, where the Russians are killing people every day on the front line and by bombarding cities.

That's something with which I think 95% of those present at the conference and listening to him would have begged to differ. I mean, it's extraordinary. We are in the middle of a war in Europe, right, where the Russians are killing people every day on the front line and by bombarding cities.

That's something with which I think 95% of those present at the conference and listening to him would have begged to differ. I mean, it's extraordinary. We are in the middle of a war in Europe, right, where the Russians are killing people every day on the front line and by bombarding cities.

Ukrainian cities every day, and where they were also committing acts of disinformation and sabotage across Europe, including in my own country, Germany, every day. And to suggest that a public debate about prohibiting the AFT or other extremist parties Or the prosecution of hate speech to suggest that that is somehow a greater threat to security in Europe left people absolutely flabbergasted.

Ukrainian cities every day, and where they were also committing acts of disinformation and sabotage across Europe, including in my own country, Germany, every day. And to suggest that a public debate about prohibiting the AFT or other extremist parties Or the prosecution of hate speech to suggest that that is somehow a greater threat to security in Europe left people absolutely flabbergasted.

Ukrainian cities every day, and where they were also committing acts of disinformation and sabotage across Europe, including in my own country, Germany, every day. And to suggest that a public debate about prohibiting the AFT or other extremist parties Or the prosecution of hate speech to suggest that that is somehow a greater threat to security in Europe left people absolutely flabbergasted.

It left me flabbergasted. You could literally, you know, see and hear the shockwaves ripple through the room. Because...

It left me flabbergasted. You could literally, you know, see and hear the shockwaves ripple through the room. Because...

It left me flabbergasted. You could literally, you know, see and hear the shockwaves ripple through the room. Because...

It's never happened that an American senior official, apart obviously from the efforts made by Elon Musk, who is, after all, not an elected official, that an American senior official had, in front of a European audience, espoused parties that seek to subvert the German constitution. Again, you're right that he didn't mention the AFD, but it was pretty clear whom he meant.