By Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday took a swipe at European governments for what he described as their censorship of free speech and their political opponents, while largely avoiding the question of how to resolve the Ukraine war.

Speaking to European political leaders, military officers and diplomats at the Munich Security Conference, Vance surprised the audience by dismissing the risk of Russian political interference in Europe, taking a similar stance to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has railed against claims by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election.

Vance adopted a confrontational tone, accusing European politicians of what he said was a fear of their own people and warned them that the real threat against their democracy was not from Russia or China.

"The threat I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America," Vance said.

The future of Ukraine was at the top of the agenda in Munich after a phone call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week where they pledged to work together to end the conflict, but Vance did not bring it up.

Instead, he said Brussels had shut down social media over hateful content, and criticized Germany for what he described as raids against its own citizens for posting anti-feminist comments, Sweden for convicting a Christian activist, and United Kingdom for backsliding on religious rights.

A Reuters reporter in one of the side rooms where more delegates could listen to Vance said people appeared stunned and did not applaud.

The vice president's speech sparked immediate criticism in Europe.

"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."

VANCE CRITICIZES ROMANIAN ELECTION CANCELLATION

Vance specifically targeted the December cancellation of Romania's elections, which were annulled by the country's top court after accusations of Russian meddling, dismissing worries of disinformation as "ugly Soviet-era words".

"If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you," Vance said.

Romania's Nov. 24 vote was annulled after declassified security documents said Romania had been a target of "aggressive hybrid Russian attacks" during the election period.

Calin Georgescu, a hard-right, self-styled outsider critical of NATO who wants to end his country's support for its neighbour Ukraine, was polling in single digits in October, but surged to a surprise victory in the first round of the presidential election.

"You can believe it's wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage even. But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few $100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with," Vance told the crowd.

Vance questioned Washington's support and funding of what was billed as a defense of democracy and support of Ukraine in the name of shared values.

"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," he said.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk and Doina Chiacu in Washington, Jonathan Landay in Munich, editing by Deepa Babington and Don Durfee)