Reading Time: 2 minutesGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said Europe was prepared to fight if necessary for its core values of freedom and democracy, in an explicit riposte to the Trump administration’s repeated criticisms of the European Union. He recalled a speech by U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Munich in February, in which Vance made a blistering attack on Europe, saying it faced a “threat from within” and that free speech was “in retreat”. No specific targets were named, but U.S. tech companies and the Trump administration have challenged U.S. allies in Europe, alleging censorship of social media platforms. Vice President JD Vance confronted us with this question in his own way in Munich at the beginning of the year: What is it that we Europeans defend together? What is it that we stand for together?” Merz said.