The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's

not any other external actor.

And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its

most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.

Now, I was struck that a former European Commissioner

went on television recently and sounded delighted

that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election.

He warned that if things don't go to plan,

the very same thing could happen in Germany too.

Now, these cavalier statements are shocking to American ears.

For years, we've been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared

democratic values.

Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defense of democracy.

But when we see European courts canceling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel

others, we ought to ask whether we're holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard.

And I say ourselves because I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team.

We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them.

I look to Sweden, where two weeks ago the government convicted a Christian activist for participating in Koran

burnings that resulted in his friend's murder.

And as the judge in his case chillingly noted, Sweden's laws to supposedly protect free

expression do not, in fact, grant, and I'm quoting, a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending

the group that holds that belief. And perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends,

...