Vice President JD Vance’s defense of a divisive far-right political party in Germany was the latest jarring example of his willingness to embrace a provocative political issue and showed how hard-line immigration policy has emerged as the thread tightly knitting together a global patchwork of populist movements.
The thrust of Mr. Vance’s speech on Friday in Munich was a call for European leaders to broaden their tolerance for alternative viewpoints. But his address from inside a Bavarian hotel was certain to resonate back home among conservative and libertarian movements that have long seized on free speech battles in Europe to warn of dangers that could be looming for anti-immigration and anti-abortion activists in the United States.
Mr. Vance did not mention the far-right party, Alternative for Germany, by name, but the context was clear as he criticized a decision to bar certain political parties from the Munich Security Conference just over a week before Germany’s national election.
Although elements of the party, also known by its German initials, AfD, have been classified as extremist by German intelligence, it appears to be on track for its strongest showing yet in a parliamentary election amid anger over immigration and rising prices.
Later in his speech, while castigating leaders in Europe broadly and Germany specifically for dismissing the opinions of some voters, Mr. Vance said, “There is no room for firewalls.” That was a direct reference to how German party leaders have colloquially referred to building a “firewall” around the AfD with the aim of blunting the party’s move into the mainstream.
Mr. Vance also met with the party’s leader, Alice Weidel, during his visit to Germany, a spokesman for Mr. Vance said.
