Free Republic

The modern history is able to provide many eloquent examples of use of practice of double standards in an international policy. First, it concerns ambiguity of approaches of influential western powers and the leading international organizations as to the estimation of election campaigns, and other democratic processes taking place in the states of the former USSR. Therefore, at elections in the countries where the ruling political regime is pro-Western, the international observers recognize that elections meet the European and international standards. On the contrary if a ruling regime or the winner of election has not pro-Western orientation, observers, as a...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A single laptop can reveal much, and so it is with the digital treasure chest that Colombian commandos found in the jungle quarters of slain rebel leader Raul Reyes. Files in the computer seized in Saturday's raid into Ecuador that claimed the lives of Reyes and 23 of his comrades offer an intimate portrait of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's desire to undermine Colombia's U.S.-allied government. If authentic, the documents show that sympathies Chavez first aired publicly in January grew out of a relationship that dates back more than a decade. But Chavez is not one of...

British shoppers are to be banned from buying eggs by the dozen under new regulations approved by the European Parliament. For the first time, eggs and ­other products such as oranges and bread rolls will be sold by weight instead of by the number contained in a packet. Until now, Britain has been exempt from EU regulations that forbid the selling of goods by number. But last week MEPs voted to end Britain’s deal despite objections from UK members. The new rules will mean that instead of packaging telling shoppers a box contains six eggs, it will show the weight...

According to Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister who now leads the Liberals in the European Parliament, “The ultimate consequences of identity thinking are the gas chambers of Auschwitz“. Politicians should be careful about dragging Holocaust references into everyday arguments. Even Churchill – who arguably had more right to make such references than the rest of us – suffered when he tried to draw a parallel between socialism and the Gestapo during the 1945 election campaign. Yet Euro-integrationists make the link so habitually and so matter-of-factly that they no longer realise what they’re doing. During the last session of...

An 11-person European Parliament delegation is scheduled to visit Tehran next week, drawing a rebuke from U.S. lawmakers concerned the visit could legitimize Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. The Jan. 7-11 mission marks the first visit by a Western parliamentary body to Tehran in more than a year. It comes as Mr. Ahmadinejad's security forces have accelerated a crackdown on Iran's political opposition. The trip, set to occur a week after the expiration of President Barack Obama's deadline for Iran to respond to international calls for negotiations over its nuclear program, is feeding debate among the U.S. and its European...

BRUSSELS – Conservatives scored victories in some of Europe's largest economies Sunday as voters punished left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and other nations.

BNP wins European Parliament seat The British National Party has won its first seat in the European Parliament after gaining more than 120,000 votes in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Labour could be on course to dip below 20% of the vote in what Harriet Harman has called a "very dismal" night. After the first three English regions to declare, Labour is third on 15.9% of the vote behind the Tories on 26.8% and UKIP [UK Independence Party] on 18.1%. There are still nine regions to declare their results. But if repeated across the UK it will pile pressure on...

Whilst it is wholly appreciated to provide legal protection to ensure that every individual has the right to observe any day of their choice for worship it is entirely inappropriate to force a doctrinal position on all Union Citizens. This matter deserves a full debate engaging all the parties concerned and in particular the minority groups so that the legal position is made clear and that the possible future religious ramifications of this proposed Legislation are considered in light of the aims and objectives of the European Union.

...Gordon Brown was in town in advance of the G20 summit. There were a couple of things I wanted to tell him on behalf of my constituents...

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Parliament says that part of the roof of its Strasbourg chamber has collapsed.

Bucharest and Brussels, 16 Nov. (AKI) - Romania, one two countries accused by Europe's top human rights watchdog of hosting secret CIA jails used to interrogate Islamist terrorism suspects, says it has written to the European Union executive denying the charges. The letter to the European Commission is a response to a request from EU justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini asking Romania and Poland - the other country implicated by the Council of Europe - for an explanation. A Romanian spokeswoman in Brussels, Doris Mircea, said that a committee of inquiry set up by the government concluded that the...

STRASBOURG (AFP) - A new extreme-right group, including veteran French firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen and Mussolini's granddaughter, was formally created in the European parliament, parliamentary president Josep Borrell announced. The "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty," group which "slightly changes the political geography of our parliament" has fulfilled the conditions for its formal recognition, said Borrell at the start of a plenary session in Strasbourg. Those rules notably include the requirement that at least 20 MEPs from five EU member states to sign up for the new political group. The formal setting up of the bloc allows it various rights including receiving official...

MILAN (Reuters) - A group of suspected Islamic militants arrested in Italy and Belgium may have been planning an attack on NATO headquarters or the European Parliament, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said on Wednesday. Quoting Italian investigators, Corriere said a suspected planner of the Madrid bombings in March -- among those arrested on Tuesday -- had intended to travel from Italy to Belgium possibly to take part in an attack on a "symbolic" target. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, known as "Mohamed the Egyptian," was seized on Tuesday with a fellow suspect in Milan, and Belgian police, acting on information...

European Parliament member Charles Tannock said Wednesday the fact that Hamas was elected democratically, like Adolf Hitler, does not mean it should be accepted. “How can we negotiate with them when their charter calls for Israel’s destruction,” said Tannock, a member of the UK Conservative Party. Speaking to reporters at the European Parliament, Tannock launched a scathing attack on Hamas, saying that a political party with the same policy ‘would have been banned in Europe for being involvement in terror and the jihad.’ Commenting on the Iranian nuclear crisis, Tannock said “why does a country with so much oil need...

MEPs fight over anti-abortion exhibit An anti-abortion exhibition organized at the European Parliament by an ultraconservative group of Polish representatives has provoked scuffles between rival MEPs. The anti-abortion exhibition ‘Life and Children in Europe’ opened by League of Polish Families evoked a very strong reaction among social democratic women MEPs in Strasbourg. The photos on display showed not only human foetuses but also children in concentration camps behind barbed wire. This association with the Nazis, was too much for the social activists. They decided to remove the pictures. Since the exhibition was in fact legal, the Polish ultraconservative MEPs didn’t...

Eurozone inflation jumped in September to the highest annual rate since June 2001, revised data showed yesterday - but higher oil prices still show few signs of feeding through into other costs. The leap in inflation, from 2.2 per cent in August to 2.6 per cent last month, means that the European Central Bank is almost certain to maintain the "strong vigilance" stance it adopted at its interest-rate setting meeting earlier this month. Preliminary estimates had put September's inflation rate at 2.5 per cent. In Germany, separate Bundesbank data showed producer prices were rising at an annual rate of 4.9...

CAIRO, February 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Pro-hijab activists are taking their case to the European Parliament with a written declaration that, if adopted, would ask European countries to respect the freedom of faith and dressing. The much-anticipated Written Declaration will see the light Wednesday, February 23, in a press conference organized at the Strasbourg-based European Parliament by the London-based Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (Protect Hijab). The event will be co-chaired by MEP Caroline Lucas and a number of her fellow MEPs. “We are really grateful to MEP Lucas and her colleagues,” Protect Hijab’s coordinator, Abeer Pharaon, told IslamOnline.net...

A MAN linked to Al-Qaeda and believed to have helped to mastermind the Madrid train bombings was overheard last month describing a plot for a woman to carry out a chemical or germ attack in America that he said would “wipe out an entire neighbourhood”. The Italian warrant for the arrest of Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, 32, an Egyptian seized in a suburb of Milan last week, details transcripts of bugged conversations and telephone calls in which he not only boasted of his involvement in the Spanish attack of March 11 but also spoke of future plans. The Spanish government...

PARIS, April 27 (AFP) - French extremist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen said Tuesday he was mulling the formation of an alliance with other far-right parties in the European Parliament after elections in June. Le Pen, leader of the National Front (FN) party known for its radical anti-immigration stance, made a visit at the weekend to Wales to support his political counterpart in Britain, the fringe British National Party. The FN holds only five seats in the European Parliament, the EU body which is elected by popular vote and currently has 625 deputies. The party halved its numbers in the last...

Closed because of "Software-Patents" In the next few days, the European Parliament will decide about the legalisation and adoption of so-called "software patents" in Europe, which are already used by large companies in other countries to put competitors out of business. This can lead to the termination of many software projects such as KNOPPIX, at least within Europe, because the holders of the over 30,000 already granted "software patents" (currently without a legal foundation) can claim exclusive rights and collect license fees for trivial things like "progress bars", "mouseclicks on online order forms", "scrolling within a window" and similar. That...

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has apologised to the European Parliament for what he has described as his "ironic" comments about a German member of the parliament. The chair of the parliament says this means the incident is now closed. Last week, following his initial speech to parliament as head of the European Council, Mr Berlusconi came in for sharp criticism from German MEP Martin Schulz. Mr Berlusconi responded by saying Mr Schulz would be perfect to play the role of a concentration camp guard in a film. Italy's junior Economics Minister Stefano Stefani has already invited German Chancellor Gerhard...