- Vice President JD Vance landed in Munich Thursday for the international Munich Security Conference.
- The same morning, a man drove a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring at least 28.
- The authorities are uncertain of the driver's motivation, but the driver's Afghan ethnicity has prompted a response from some German leaders.
Vice President JD Vance landed at the Munich International Airport early Thursday, per The Associated Press, for a global security conference even as the host nation deals with a suspected terrorist attack.
Vance will attend the Feb. 14-16 Munich Security Conference and meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Ukraine-Russia peace.
Earlier Thursday, a man drove a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring at least 28 people in a suspected terrorist attack, according to NBC News.
The U.S. Secret Service stated that the Vice President was secure, but the security detail is monitoring the situation and German authorities are investigating for a motive.
The driver, a 24-year-old Afghan migrant with a previous criminal history including drug usage and some theft, was arrested, per local reports.
Political response to the attack
Bavaria’s interior minister stated that he does not believe the attack connects to the Munich Security Conference, per Reuters. Nevertheless, the police have not ruled out terrorist intent, and the attack has generated a storm of political conversation.
Conservative Friedrich Merz, a frontrunner in the election for Germany’s next chancellor and safety proponent, posted on X that his administration “will enforce law and order. Everyone must feel safe in our country again. Something has to change in Germany.”
Merz’s comment comes in light of a similar attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, in December.
Five people died in the Magdeburg attack, which was perpetrated by a Saudi man with permanent German residency.
Merz, though not a part of the AfD, has won their support on several of his parliamentary projects with his tough-on-immigration stance.
Thursday’s attack in Munich also spurred Alice Weidel, one of AfD’s most prominent leaders, to post to X: “Should this go on forever? Migration turnaround now!”
What to expect from Vance’s stay in Munich
The 61st annual Munich Security Conference will include heads of state, heads of military and foreign affairs, academics, businessmen and civil advocates.
Global Times reports that attendees at the conference will discuss international governance, the state of democracy and environmental issues, in addition to regional conflicts — including the nearly three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia.
As the Deseret News previously reported, Trump, Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have begun to talk about negotiations to end of the war.
Vance and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent will meet with Zelenskyy to discuss the state of the war and plans for its resolution.
“We want ... Americans to look to us not just for democracy, which they helped (us) to survive during this terrible war of Russia against Ukraine,” said Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian who will attend the meeting, per PBS. “But to look to us as a very important and very interesting strategic partner in the future.”
Before the conference, Vance visited the Dachau concentration camp, where he laid a wreath decorated with “We remember” in memoriam of the Holocaust, per AP News.