Vance’s attack on European democracy in Munich, perversely twisting the language of democracy itself should leave no doubt whatsoever that the aim of this administration is to destroy the EU and its liberal democracies," said Nathalie Tocci, director of Istituto Affari Internazionali think tank.
Responding to Vance’s speech, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the conference: “If I understood him correctly he is comparing parts of Europe with authoritarian regimes. This is not acceptable.”
From the summary line I was wondering that too, but in the article, it’s pretty clear that he’s talking only about EU internals/citizens.