FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz on Saturday joined his domestic political rivals in condemning U.S. Vice President JD Vance's attack on Europe's stance toward hate speech and the far right.

The vice president delivered a scolding speech advocating that Europe move over to accommodate the rising anti-migration, nationalist voices they have sought to block from power.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned US Vice President JD Vance’s overture to Germany’s far right as a direct intervention in the country’s democracy, marking a new low point in transatlantic relations after Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met on Friday with Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, while on a visit to Germany, an official in Vance's office said, according to a pool report.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met on Friday in Munich with the leader of Germany's far-right AfD, his office confirmed, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance's office says he met the leader of a German far-right party during a trip to Germany on a day he gave a speech castigating European leaders.