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61st Munich Security Conference

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61st Munich Security Conference
Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz
NicknameMSC 2025
Begins14 February 2025
Ends16 February 2025
VenueHotel Bayerischer Hof
Location(s)Munich, Germany
Previous event60th (2024)
Next event62nd (2026)

The 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC 2025) is the annual meeting of the Munich Security Conference, that took place from 14 February to 16 February 2025 in Munich, Germany.

Background

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One day before the event, a car attack in Munich injured 36 people.[1] The conference ran just over one week before the 2025 German federal election.[2]

Attendees

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Attendees of the conference included:[3][full citation needed]

  • Secretary Marco Rubio meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
    Secretary Marco Rubio meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
  • Ukraine and US delegations meet
    Ukraine and US delegations meet
  • Panel discussion on Euro-Atlantic security at the Munich Security Conference
    Panel discussion on Euro-Atlantic security at the Munich Security Conference

Conference

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The conference was opened on 14 February 2025 by German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[6] During the event, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US vice president JD Vance,[7] while Vance also met with Alice Weidel, co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and with opposition leader Friedrich Merz. Zelenskyy also had a meeting with several United States senators from both major US political parties.[8]

Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, said that European countries needed to come up with plans for Ukraine if they wished to play a major role in discussions on a peace settlement for the Russia–Ukraine war.[9]

In a speech, Vance said that illegal migration was the "most urgent" challenge faced by Europe.[1] Vance also said that European leaders need to do more to contribute to Ukrainian defense as the US focuses more on China.[2] Vance also claimed that European states were failing to uphold free speech and democratic values, criticizing the firewall against the far-right in Germany and the decision to cancel the results of the 2024 Romanian presidential election because of Russian interference in the campaign.[8][10] German defense minister Boris Pistorius rebuffed Vance's speech, saying,[11]

if I have understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regions ... that is not acceptable.

Vance's speech was also criticised, among others, by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party of Germany), Natalia Pouzyreff (The Republic on the Move), Opposition Leader and likely next Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union of Germany), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Alliance 90/The Greens),[12][13] and Minister for Foreign Annalena Baerbock (Alliance 90/The Greens).[14] Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (Free Democratic Party) called Vance's speech a "bizarre intellectual bottom".[12]

Responses vary greatly, but include Scholz saying,[12][15][16]

that is why we will not accept outsiders interfering in our democracy, our elections, and in the democratic formation of opinions in support and for the benefit of this party … that is not appropriate – especially among friends and allies, and we firmly reject this.

— Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Scholz also said "the democratic parties in Germany 'have a common consensus' because of the experiences with national socialism: that consensus is the firewall against extreme right parties",[12][a] stressing further that "the Federal Republic [of Germany] is a democracy, that created itself from the opposition against national socialism and against facism",[12] national socialism and their monstrous crimes have been trivialised from the ranks of the AfD as a speck of "birdshit in German history",[17] "a commitment to 'never again', as Vance made during a visit to the Dachau concentration camp memorial site, cannot be reconciled with support for the AfD",[17] and that Germans "decide their democracy for themselves."[16][17]

Habeck noted that in the US "a new form of technological money-nobility" is currently emerging as a social class that needs German and European responses,[12] and "what Vance did yesterday [...] it must be said as clearly as this [...] it's none of your business [...] deal with your own stuff, there are enough challenges in the US."[12] Merz criticised Vance's interference in the German election, rejected Vance's allegation of a value deficit in Europe saying that lawful regulation of hate speech and fake news by independent courts is absolutely appropriate,[15] and pointed out that journalists would never be denied access to the chancellory in reference to Associated Press staff being denied access to the White House and Air Force One for their choice of speech around the name of the Gulf of Mexico.[15][18]

Zelenskyy called for the creation of a European army.[19] Such an army is a prerequisite to Europe, which has more than twice the population of the US, developing its own nuclear umbrella.[20] Currently that umbrella is contributed to NATO by the US as a deterrent,[21][22] with Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey being nuclear sharing participants and France and the UK maintaining their own nuclear weapons. Loss of this umbrella would create a significant gap,[22] and might lead to what it was in part created to prevent: proliferation of nuclear weapons and emergence of Europe as anything but an indivisible albeit junior partner of the US.[21][23][24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Seeking to defend the constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Germany against all enemies, foreign and domestic, is similar to what is found in the Oath of Allegiance.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mass migration is Europe's 'most urgent' challenge, says Vance". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Vance exports MAGA message on immigration, nationalism to European elite". The Washington Post. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Munich Security Conference 2025 Main Program" (PDF). MSC.
  4. ^ "A failed Ukraine would 'weaken the United States,' says EU chief". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  5. ^ "China's Wang Yi urges respect for rule of law, avoiding 'double standards'". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Germany's president opens Munich Security Conference". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  7. ^ Madhani, Aamer; Burrows, Emma; Dazio, Stefanie (14 February 2025). "Zelenskyy to Vance: Ukraine wants 'security guarantees' as Trump seeks to end Ukraine-Russia war". AP News. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  8. ^ a b Tankersley, Jim; Nechepurenko, Ivan; Chutel, Lynsey; Das, Andrew (14 February 2025). "Vance Meets Zelensky After Signaling Support for Europe's Far-Right Parties". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  9. ^ "NATO head Rutte: Europe needs Ukraine plan". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  10. ^ Wintour, Patrick (15 February 2025). "JD Vance's Munich speech laid bare the collapse of the transatlantic alliance". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  11. ^ "Germany's Pistorius says JD Vance remarks 'not acceptable'". Deutsche Welle. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "'Kümmere dich um deinen eigenen Kram', pöbelt Habeck" ['Take care of your own stuff', Habeck rebukes]. Welt (in German). 15 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Friedrich Merz fordert USA auf, Wahlergebnisse zu akzeptieren" [Friedrich Merz calls on the United States to accept election results]. Zeit Online (in German). 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2025. Merz sagte weiter: 'Es sei nicht denkbar, dass die deutsche Bundesregierung bestimmte Medien von Pressekonferenzen ausschließen würde.' Die US-Regierung lässt die Nachrichtenagentur AP nicht mehr zu Konferenzen im Oval Office zu. (transl. Merz went on to say: 'It is inconceivable that the German federal government would exclude certain media from press conferences.' The US government no longer allows the AP news agency to conference in the Oval Office.)
  14. ^ "Baerbock weist Vance zurück und lobt 'wehrhafte Demokratie' in Europa" [Baerbock rejects Vance and praises 'defensive democracy' in Europe]. Die Zeit. 15 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  15. ^ a b c "'Das gehört sich nicht': Scholz zur Einmischung von Vance in Wahlkampf" ['This is not appropriate': Scholz on Vance's interference in election campaign]. Die Presse (in German). 15 February 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  16. ^ a b Tanno, Sophie (15 February 2025). "Scholz says Germans will decide their democracy for themselves, hitting back at Vance". CNN. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  17. ^ a b c "Einmischung zugunsten der AfD 'gehört sich nicht'" [Interference in favor of the AfD 'is not appropriate']. Tagesschau (in German). 15 February 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  18. ^ Bauder, David (16 February 2025). "AP reporter and photographer barred from Air Force One over 'Gulf of Mexico' terminology dispute". Associated Press. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  19. ^ Jordan, Dearbail (16 February 2024). "'Army of Europe' needed to challenge Russia, says Zelensky". BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  20. ^ Langenstraß, Markus (15 February 2024). "Baut sich Europa einen eigenen Atomwaffenschutzschirm" [Is Europe building its own nuclear weapons umbrella?]. BR24 (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  21. ^ a b Tisdall, Simon (17 February 2025). "As the US retreats, Europe must look out for itself – so is Macron's nuclear offer the answer?". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  22. ^ a b Junge, Barbara (16 February 2025). "Europa braucht jetzt Alternativen zu den USA" [Europe now needs alternatives to the US]. Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  23. ^ Richter, Klara (14 February 2024). "Historischer Verzicht: Warum Deutschland keine eigenen Atomwaffen hat" [Historic renunciation: Why Germany does not have its own nuclear weapons]. RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  24. ^ Thelen, Silas (16 February 2025). "'In gewissem Sinne ein europäischer Albtraum'" ['In some sense a European Nightmare']. ZDF (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025. Es seien zwei Botschaften [...]: Einerseits die von Vance, die einer Wertegemeinschaft der USA mit Europa aufkündige. Andererseits sei durch die Teilnahme anderer US-Vertreter dennoch eine 'transatlantische Familie zusammengekommen', in der diese Gemeinschaft dennoch vorhanden sei. [...] Uns ist auch aufgefallen, dass selbst republikanische Senatoren vorsichtig sind, sich öffentlich zu äußern, weil sie Angst vor ihrem Präsidenten haben.
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