Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, said during one of the discussion panels at the Munich Security Conference that one of the fundamental differences between Europe and the United States concerns the “perception of freedom of speech.”
“We believe in freedom of speech with responsibility. And what happened here a year ago was that the Vice President of the United States told us that our concept of freedom of speech amounts to censorship, and I simply do not accept that,” he said. His remarks sparked reactions across international public opinion.
Sikorski spoke during the final Saturday panel in Munich on the state of transatlantic relations. The head of Polish diplomacy answered “yes” to the question of whether “the West still exists,” but emphasized that differences between the two sides of the Atlantic have always been present.
He pointed out that “civilizational” differences exist, among other things, in the perception of freedom of speech, which in America is almost unrestricted.
“In Europe, for important historical reasons—for example in Poland—advocating fascism and communism is prohibited for very important historical reasons. We believe in freedom of speech with responsibility. And what happened here a year ago was that the Vice President of the United States told us that our concept of freedom of speech is censorship, and I simply do not accept that. So the difficulty we are now facing is that one side of the Atlantic is trying to impose its values on the other side, and that is unacceptable,” Sikorski said.
The Polish deputy prime minister also engaged in a verbal exchange with his Czech counterpart, Macinka, who criticized labeling political opponents as fascists. Sikorski replied that there are fascists in Europe and that, contrary to Macinka’s words, this is not a problem that ended 70–80 years ago. He responded in a similar manner to Pappin, who criticized the exclusion of certain political parties in Europe.
“Yes, we exclude fascists,” Radosław Sikorski said.
Sikorski’s remarks on freedom of speech prompted reactions from X users around the world.
Among other things, his 2003 interview with the American Enterprise Institute was recalled.
French diplomat Gerard Araud noted that he met Sikorski in 2003 when he “was at a right-wing American think tank in Washington, more American than the Americans.”
“I think most Americans understand the traditional restrictions in Europe. But Vance did not criticize the right to impose restrictions on fascist narratives or Holocaust denial. He criticized arresting people for praying or for publishing their opinions on their government’s migration policy,” pointed out Michael Brendan Dougherty of National Review.
“Let me remind you that bad people restricted freedom of speech in Nazi Germany and in the Warsaw Pact states, not good people,” wrote commentator Pieter Cleppe.
“Mr. Sikorski, freedom of speech is the foundation of democracy; the truth will always defend itself. In this case, it is about unwanted criticism directed at those in power who violate democratic principles, impoverish nations, push unwanted migration, and impose an ideology that destroys fundamental family values and traditions,” commented a user with the nickname “Pirx.”