‘I love Europe’ but don’t be ‘permanent security vassal’ of US, Vance tells EU
‘I don’t want the Europeans to just do whatever the Americans tell them to do,’ the US vice-president says
US Vice-President J.D. Vance hailed his country’s transatlantic alliances, striking a more positive note, but in an interview urged European states to show greater independence.
“I love Europe … I love European people,” Vance told news and opinion website UnHerd on Monday in rare favourable comments about the European Union and Britain.
“It’s not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States,” Vance said, echoing his previous rebukes of EU states for apparent security and economic dependence on the US.
“I don’t want the Europeans to just do whatever the Americans tell them to do. I don’t think it’s in their interest, and I don’t think it’s in our interests, either.”
In the past few weeks, US President Donald Trump has upended the global economic order by imposing and then partially walking back sweeping global tariffs.
From the war in Ukraine to claims over Greenland, Trump’s policies are testing relations with long-standing American allies.
Just weeks after taking up his post, Vance made headlines after launching a withering attack against Europe on culture war issues at the Munich Security Conference.