Does J.D. Vance Know Anything About European Democracy or Security?

On the final morning of this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC), a group of bleary-eyed journalists sat down next to me during breakfast. Each of their distinctive European voices lamented another dimension of the Trump administration’s first few weeks: the lack of strategy behind America’s engagement with Russia, Vice President J.D. Vance’s noxious speech and tacit support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and what bodes for Ukraine in the coming months—and for Greenland, too, if that still matters.

One journalist commented that, despite all the much-needed media attention on Ukraine and concern over Trump’s unilateralism, many issues of European and Transatlantic security had gone untouched.

“Did you know that protests in Georgia have been going on for 80 days?” she queried. “Why is no one talking about it?”

“Probably because no one died yet,” her colleague quipped.

Yet, with all the Vice President’s unsolicited patronization of European politics, why is such a blatant demonstration of free speech and democracy, like that in Georgia, going so unnoticed?

Protestors marching to the Parliament of Georgia in Tbilisi [Source: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media].

To the credit of MSC, my colleague Thomas de Waal had a thorough conversation with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili at the conference. The discussion touched on the indefatigable movement of Georgians demonstrating for free speech and democracy for more than 80 days. Thousands have been taking to the streets since the Georgian Dream party suspended accession negotiations with the EU in November. Protests intensified in December when the Russian-leaning and authoritarian Georgian Dream party won contested parliamentary elections, proclaiming leader Mikheil Kavelashvili as the newly elected president.

Zourabichvili, the last Georgian president elected by popular vote, has refused to step down and is widely recognized as the legitimate leader until a replacement can be lawfully elected. In Munich, she identified the true threat to Europe’s democracy. “You get this proxy government to be put into power and … take Georgia away from its European path back to the Russian path,” Zourabichvili warned. “That’s very dangerous because if that works in Georgia … then that might be tested somewhere else.”

“Spotlight on Georgia” with Salome Zourabichvili and Thomas de Waal [Source: MSC/Heimken].

Earlier that day, Vice President Vance preached to the Transatlantic community that “democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters.” He should have stuck around to hear about actual European democracy in action.

Recent polls from the Institute of Social Studies and Analysis reveal that nearly 80% of Georgians place primary responsibility for the political crisis on Georgian Dream. And nearly 60% of respondents expressed loyalty to the protests, with 86% of Georgians supporting EU integration.

These protests are about exactly what Vance proclaims to support: unrestricted freedom of speech for all points of view and political ideologies. He promised that he and President Trump will fight to defend the right for Europeans to express their views—whether they agree or disagree. In perhaps his clearest attempt to link his pandering speech to the purpose of the conference itself, Vance declared: “I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions, and the conscience that guide your very own people.” Meanwhile, the ruling Georgian Dream party enacts more restrictions on media, civil society groups, and assembly to further repress domestic opposition, in addition to the controversial “foreign agents” law that incited its own round of protests last year. U.S. cuts to foreign aid exacerbate these constraints on free speech and the shrinking media landscape, with independent outlets in Georgia facing closure due to blocked funding.

Since 2008, Russia has occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia. [Source: Sovereign Limits].

Vance’s ignorance of Georgia’s protests is hardly surprising, especially given Russia’s growing influence within the country. Russia has occupied around twenty percent of Georgia since 2008, though recent talks of Georgia’s reunification with Abkhazia and South Ossetia further illustrate closer relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. The Georgian Dream party increasingly embraces ties to Russia at the price of European alignment—refusing to participate in Russian sanctions, welcoming Russian business, and abandoning its links to the West.

Although Vance might not comprehend the gravity of Russian influence in Georgia, President Zourabichvili understands the magnitude of these security implications and the regional consequence of Georgia’s defense of its democracy. “What will happen to Georgia also determines your future. It determines certainly the future of Armenia … It determines the future of the Black Sea,” she explained. “It might determine the future of many elections in European countries.”

Police in Georgia disperse protestors and repress demonstrations [Source: Giorgi Arhevanidze/AFP via Getty Images].

Georgia’s exercise of its democracy does not fit well into Vance’s archetype of free speech, which centers around accommodating populist and far-right worldviews that Europe has strategically limited in the public sphere. But even fellow Republicans acknowledged the speech’s shortcomings, with Senator John Cornyn noting Vance’s failure to address the issue “at the top of everybody’s list” or much substance about America’s policy under the Trump administration. Another Republican Senator conceded privately that, despite Vance articulating key positions of this new administration, the sovereignty of each state to determine its own constitutional and free speech issues remains important to the Senator.

Yet, President Zourabichvili doesn’t see enough reaction from either the Americans or Europeans, appealing to her European colleagues directly on the MSC stage. “It’s much more than Georgian politics. It’s much more than one party winning over an opposition,” she asserted. “It is a challenge for the European Union.”

With fast-moving developments in Ukraine negotiations, it is unlikely that Georgia’s unflagging protests will garner much media or policymaker attention from either the Americans or Europeans. After all, I only became aware of the situation after a chance seating placement at a hotel restaurant in Munich.

But with ceasefire negotiations progressing and Russia continuing to intervene in European elections, Vance could learn a lot about European democracy and security from Georgia’s protests. Rather than pander to far-right parties in the name of free speech, Vance can look at a true demonstration of democracy in Georgia and see that he is sorely misinformed in diagnosing Europe’s biggest challenge supplanting Russia and China as “the threat from within.” Or, at the very least, Vance can recognize that he completely missed the mark in Munich.