Mr Pistorius added that he is grateful and proud to live in a Europe that defends its democracy and its way of living in freedom every day, against internal and external enemies. “That is why I firmly reject the impression Mr Vance has tried to create – that minorities in our democracy are being oppressed or silenced.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday took a swipe at European governments for what he described as their censorship of free speech and their political opponents, while largely avoiding the question of how to resolve the Ukraine war.