Free Republic

Hungary has long been a thorn in the side of the EU authorities in Brussels in everything linked with the Ukraine conflict. Staunchly refusing to fan the flames of the ongoing NATO proxy conflict with Russia, Budapest has been fending off mounting pressure from its increasingly frustrated fellow EU leaders.Hungary is to be meted out a dose of “punishment” by fellow EU leaders for its staunch opposition to arming Ukraine, Politico reported. A plan is afoot to slap Budapest’s representatives with a “weak portfolio” in the next European Commission, according to diplomats cited by the outlet. Hungary’s Oliver Varhelyi has...

The European Union just passed a directive requiring ESG mandates for European businesses. ESG, of course, stands for environmental, social and governance standards. Or in the fine print — definite corporate action concerning climate change; social justice; and diversity, equity and inclusion. Basically, it’s applied Marxism without all the goofy theories — tyranny with nuance, we could call it. The EU Council approved what it called the “corporate sustainability due diligence directive” on Friday. Under the new rules, companies “will have to take measures to prevent, identify and mitigate any adverse impact on human rights or the environment,” the council...

The Belgian prosecutor says the employee played a 'significant role' in a suspected Russian propaganda operation which infiltrated the European Parliament. Brussels and French police carried out a series of simultaneous raids at European Parliament offices in Brussels and Strasbourg as well as at the home of a parliamentary staffer in the Belgian neighbourhood of Schaerbeek on Wednesday morning. Dutch EU lawmaker Marcel de Graaff confirmed on social media platform X that the staffer in question was his parliamentary assistant, Guillaume Pradoura, but distanced himself from the accusations. "I have no involvement whatsoever in any so-called Russian disinformation operation. I...

France’s globalist President Emmanuel Macron is making a state visit to Germany, the first such for 24 years, and kicked off his visit by warning against nations acting in their own interest. France and Germany, both led by globalist-left governments and both facing a damaging vote in less than two weeks as the European Parliament is re-elected continent-wide, put on a united front as Macron arrived in Berlin for the first state visit in a near-quarter century. The last French leader to make a full state visit to Germany was Jacques Chirac in 2000. The Franco-German relationship — keeping the...

<p>Baltic leaders reacted warily on Wednesday to reports that Russia could revise the borders of its territorial waters in the region.</p><p>In a draft proposal reported by some Russian media, Russia's Defence Ministry suggests updating the coordinates used to measure the strip of territorial waters off of its mainland coast and that of its islands in the Baltic Sea.</p>

Vistisen exclusively tells Euronews there is “no more political divide” between Meloni and Le Pen’s political factions than there is within other mainstream political groups. The man who has been fronting the far-right Identity and Democracy’s European elections campaign is confident that the European Parliament's two most right-wing factions will join to form a united bloc during the upcoming legislature. In an interview on Tuesday, Anders Vistisen told Euronews he believes there is no substantial political rift between his Identity and Democracy (ID) party - which harbours Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, Italy’s Lega and Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)...

As you’ve probably heard, the populist Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times by a crazed pro-Ukrainian, radical left-wing activist in a foiled assassination attempt. ... In today’s era of violent, pro-war leftists, advocating for peace has become dangerous—and potentially deadly. Fico was vehemently against supporting Ukraine in the dustup with Russia. The Slovakia anti-Ukraine history runs long and deep, as this 2023 article explains. Politico: Slovakia’s new leader Robert Fico made waves during the country’s recent election campaign by warning that he would not send “another bullet” to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. His dramatic...

The drift of European countries away from the failed immigration policies of their socialist predecessors reached the Netherlands with the election of Geert Wilders as their new leader. Wilders will lead a coalition of four parties with a clear agenda of sweeping away the disastrous results of an open border that has flooded the Netherlands with a mass migration from the Middle East. That in turn has brought lawlessness from the rising migrant count leaving the silent majority exposed to behavior that they objected to with their votes. Wilders announced that his country is in an asylum crisis which requires...

The economy is experiencing a golden moment thanks to exports and tourism after cleaning up its accounts. But the country has paid a price in migration of qualified workers and reduction of public services. Ten years after the departure of the “men in black” — the international managers of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank who cleaned up Portugal’s accounts with a machete, the country has emerged as the most diligent student in southern Europe. In 2023, for the first time, public debt fell below 100% of GDP (it stood at 98.7%) and there was a...

A pentacle surrounded by a circle of fire and two figures with an ostentatiously satanic look. This is the performance at Eurovision 2024, currently being held in Sweden, by the Irish singer 'Bambie Thug', born Bambie Ray Robinson in 1993, competing with the song Doomsday Blue. And we could stop here, since the images speak for themselves. Broadcast on unified European networks, the Eurovision Song Contest is the continent's most popular music competition, now in its 68th edition and with the participation of 37 countries. In short, a sort of European Top of the Pops; and Ireland’s diabolic spectacle will...

Moscow puts subsidiaries of German and Italian firms under the control of a Gazprom division, sparking annoyance from Italy and the EU. In a move that is likely to increase tension between Russia and Western Europe, the Kremlin has unexpectedly announced the "temporary external management" of Russian subsidiaries of Italian water heating company Ariston and German appliance maker BSH Hausgeraete. The subsidiaries, Ariston Thermo Rus, and BSH Household Appliances, now come under the management of Gazprom's Household Systems and are now completely under Russia's control. The Executive Order, signed by President Vladimir Putin, which was revealed on Friday and backdated...

(European Union) Lawmakers want to see more support for Ukraine as US and UK counterparts advance. EU lawmakers have called for Russian state assets to be seized to support Ukraine, saying existing plans worth billions of euros don’t go far enough. EU countries are already discussing plans to deliver an aid package worth around €3bn a year to Ukraine by using the interest from capital held within the bloc by the Russian central bank. But EU lawmakers want to go further, as US counterparts finalise a €57 billion aid package for the war-torn country. “Europe needs to seize all of...

The European Council decided today to list four persons and two entities under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. "The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians, including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank," the EU stated. "The listed entities are Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group, and Hilltop Youth, a radical youth group consisting of members known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the...

The European Union will "start the necessary work" to hit Iran with heavier sanctions after Saturday's aerial attack on Israel, the bloc's top diplomat has said. Speaking following an exceptional virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, Josep Borrell said he would ask his services to study the possibility of expanding existing EU sanctions against Iranian drone technology. It would see the current sanctions regime - established in July 2023 to punish Iran for aiding Putin's war machine with unmanned drones - expanded to include missiles and to also cover Iran's proxies in the region. The bloc would also...

A Ukrainian loss, which could happen very soon if U.S. weapons don’t arrive, would ramp up Russian efforts to destabilize the governments of NATO countries and increase defense spending across the alliance, among other disastrous effects, Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s Defense Minister, told reporters Friday. When U.S. officials like President Joe Biden talk about why Ukraine matters, they rely on broad notions of democracy and the continuation of the international order—without specifically explaining what a Ukraine loss would mean for ordinary Americans. Perhaps because of this, Americans are evenly split on the question of whether the United States is doing too...

Europe’s top diplomat has acknowledged that the “era of Western dominance has indeed definitively ended”. Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, wrote this in a blog post on the official website of the EU’s diplomatic service on February 25. “If the current global geopolitical tensions continue to evolve in the direction of ‘the West against the Rest’, Europe’s future risks to be bleak”, he warned.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Farmers threw beets, sprayed manure at police and set hay alight on Tuesday as hundreds of tractors again sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the The farmers protested what they see as excessive red tape and unfair trading practices as well as increased environmental measures and cheap imports from Ukraine.

Five months into the Gaza crisis, the results of the updated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment released today indicate the unfolding of the worst possible forecast for Gaza. Gaza is already facing famine, with 100% of people estimated to be acutely food insecure, according to the IPC. In Gaza's Northern Governorates, 70% of the population are facing imminent famine. In the centre and southern governorates, 50% of people face catastrophic food insecurity conditions. The situation is projected to deteriorate fast in the next weeks and months and famine is likely to also affect the South. This is unprecedented....

The prime minister of Slovakia has claimed that Nato and EU member states are preparing to deploy troops to Ukraine. Robert Fico, a pro-Russia populist, offered no details of how Western soldiers could be sent to assist Ukraine, and commentators said he was probably just trying to stir up trouble. He was speaking ahead of a hastily-arranged meeting of European leaders in Paris because of what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression over the past few weeks. The meeting implies that “a number of Nato and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops...

The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that the nation of Hungary, on two occasions, blocked attempts by the European Union to make a consensus statement against the anticipated Israeli military operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where the bulk of Hamas terrorists are thought to be concentrated.EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell reportedly tried to unite all 27 member states behind a statement calling for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a move that Israel argues would allow Hamas to regroup and rearm its terrorist elements.According to the report, Borell eventually succeeded...