Vance Calls for European Self-Sufficiency in Address to World Leaders 

WASHINGTON—Vice President JD Vance emphasized a transformation of U.S.–European relations in an address to the Munich Security Conference in Washington on May 7.

“Fundamentally, we have to be, and we are on the same civilizational team,” Vance said. “There’s a big question about what that means in the 21st century.”

The high-profile gathering brought together diplomats, global leaders, and security experts to discuss Europe’s defense and industrial capacity.

Vance said that Europe must become more self-sufficient, reflecting the Trump administration’s broader foreign policy shift toward prioritizing American interests and encouraging allies to share the burden of collective security.

He suggested European nations need to increase defense spending to about 5 percent of gross domestic product, saying some countries were too comfortable with the existing security arrangement.

Vance’s remarks aligned with the Trump administration’s push for NATO members to exceed the 2 percent GDP defense spending target, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently advocating for spending “north of 3 percent” by the alliance’s European members.

Vance reinforced the idea that a solid partnership is mutually beneficial.

“I do still very much think that the United States and Europe are on the same team,” he said. “European culture and American culture are very much linked, and they’re always going to be linked.”

The vice president highlighted the need for Europe to rebuild its industrial base, noting that many European nations were “de-industrializing at the very time an industrial base is needed for increased defense spending.”

He pointed to the challenges of supplying munitions and equipment amid global conflicts, suggesting that Europe’s reliance on U.S. industrial capacity was unsustainable.

Vance’s remarks came at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, with peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ongoing.

He said the United States is committed to ending the fighting.

“I think it was the right thing to do to start the negotiations,” Vance said. “It’s absurd that you have this war go on for so long, and the two sides aren’t even talking constructively about how to end the conflict.”

The vice president said a successful dialogue must include consideration of all perspectives.

“You don’t have to agree with the Russian justification of the war, but you have to understand where the other side is coming from to end the conflict,” Vance said.

“A frustration that we’ve had, frankly, with both sides, is that they hate each other so much that if you have an hour conversation with either side, the first 30 minutes is them complaining about historical agreements.”

He described the continuation of conflict as bad for the world and said President Donald Trump is focused on saving lives.

“We think if cool heads prevail here, we can bring this thing to a durable peace that will be economically beneficial for both the Ukrainians and the Russians, and most importantly, will stop the end of the destruction of human lives,” Vance said.

Unlike his earlier Munich speech in February, which criticized European democracies for restricting free speech and mishandling immigration, this address focused on economic and security self-reliance, with a pragmatic approach to reconciling trade and tariff disputes.

Reactions to Vance’s speech were mixed, with some European officials—including Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Lansbergis—welcoming the call for greater self-reliance, while others expressed concern that the United States could potentially retreat from its role as a leader and financial backer of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Vance said relations between the United States and Europe are at a turning point.

“I do think that we’re in one of these phases where we’re going to have to rethink a lot of big questions,” he said.

With all eyes on planned trade talks with China this weekend, Vance said that the Chinese need to consume more to mitigate the multibillion-dollar trade deficit the United States has with China.

“We cannot absorb the producer surplus of the entire world,” Vance said. “Now we find ourselves in a very precarious place.”

He expressed optimism that a deal will materialize, suggesting the process could take time to complete.

“We want to rebalance trade in the interest of American workers and American manufacturers,” Vance said. “We’re in the early innings of a very significant shift.”