Free Republic

The EU's unity, solidarity and international standing are at risk from Greece's debt, Russia's role in Ukraine, Britain's attempt to change its relationship with the bloc, and Mediterranean migration.

Greek referendum results live: No vote to eurozone bail-out deal leads by 60 per cent. After 20pc of the vote is counted, Greeks look to have voted 'No' with a 60pc majority against Europe's bail-out conditions

As my colleague Patrick O’Flynn recently pointed out in the Daily Express, the bullying of Greece by the EU has stepped up a notch. Threats, scaremongering and fear is being put about to keep that country locked within the Euro straightjacket. All those running the EU care about is their project. They care not for the best wishes of the Greek people, but simply for sustaining the economic madhouse they themselves have created. Locked inside the Euro, the Greek people have been long-suffering. Quite simply, the European Union is quite happy to see Greece crucified as long as the shattered...

Sunday, Greeks should vote “no”!Hellenic voters are being asked whether they accept the terms offered by the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to extend the bailout for Athens‘ troubled finances or give Prime Minister Tsipras a mandate to insist on a better deal.Those conditions include more cuts in government supported pensions, higher taxes and labor market reforms other European governments’ are often not inclined to accept in the conduct of their own affairs.Urging a Yes vote, European leaders and their supporters in private institutions claim more austerity would reinvigorate the Greek economy and permit Greeks to...

More than 260,000 people in Austria have signed a petition urging the Austrian government to leave the European Union (EU). According to reports on Thursday, as many as 261,159 Austrians signed the petition. The number in total represents 4.12 percent of the country's electorate. Since under the country's regulations the threshold for calling a debate on a potential referendum is 100,000 people, the Austrian parliament must discuss a referendum on leaving the EU. The call for leaving the EU was most popular in the regions of Lower Austria and in Carinthia where 5.18 percent and 4.85 percent of potential voters,...

In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and the answer is not pleasant: it is about power and democracy much more than money and economics. Of course, the economics behind the program that the “troika” (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) foisted on Greece five years ago has been abysmal, resulting in a 25% decline in the country’s gross domestic product. I can think of no depression, ever, that has been so deliberate and had such catastrophic consequences: Greece’s rate of youth unemployment, for...

... Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke by phone with Mr. Juncker and European Parliament President Martin Schulz and asked for help getting an extension to the bailout, a Greek government official said. “The Greek prime minister [Tsipras]expressed the position that the democratic expression of the Greek people is hindered by the closure of banks, which doesn’t apply with the democratic tradition of Europe,” the official said. ... Mr. Tsipras and his government are calling on Greeks to vote “no” to send a signal to Europe and the IMF

<p>Greece and its principal creditors—the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund—should acknowledge that Athens will never be able to repay the €131 billion it owes, write down its debt and let the Aegean nation exit the euro gracefully.</p>

Greece banks to stay closed on Monday, Piraeus Bank chief says, after emergency meeting in Athens This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly

Obtained from various sources: Greece’s referendum question will apparently read as follows: “Greek people are hereby asked to decide whether they accept a draft agreement document submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, at the Eurogroup meeting held on on June 25 and which consists of two documents: ‘‘The first document is called Reforms for the Completion of the Current Program and Beyond and the second document is called Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis. ‘‘- Those citizens who reject the institutions’ proposal vote Not Approved / NO ‘‘- Those citizens who accept the institutions’...

German leaders right and left unleashed a barrage of criticism at Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday for rejecting an offer that could have unlocked rescue funds to resolve the debt crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel's allies and the leaders of her centre-left coalition partners condemned Greece's leftist government, reflecting pent-up public frustration. Germany is the biggest European contributor to the bailout programmes that have kept Greece afloat for the past five years. Opinion polls now show a majority of Germans want Greece to leave the euro zone.

The European Central Bank is expected to end emergency lending to Greece's banks on Sunday, the BBC understands.Well-placed sources told BBC economics editor Robert Peston a decision to end the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) would be made by the ECB's governing council later on Sunday.Greek banks depend on ELA.Cutting the lifeline could push Greece out of the euro. Some analysts have tweeted that the ECB is likely to cap, but not end, the ELA.

urozone finance ministers refused Saturday to extend Greece's bailout programme past June 30 after Athens called a referendum on reform proposals by creditors, sources told AFP. The ministers "rejected an extension of the aid programme" at a meeting in Brussels, hours after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the plebiscite on the bailout proposal for July 5.

Her speech, weaving historical events with present crises, was replete with some subtle and other not so subtle hints that she believed Britain belonged in the European Union – her most public stance yet that she wished to avoid Britain voting to leave in a referendum.

Greece’s energy minister Lafazanis said that [the coal-fired power plant] Ptolemaida V is required since renewable power plants are intermittent and endanger the country’s energy security. In May, Lafazanis sent a letter to the European Commission asking permission to operate the Ptolemaida III, a separate coal plant that is shut down due to its very old technology that pollutes the environment enormously. One of Lafazanis arguments was “the economic crisis in Greece, which makes the need for keeping the cost of energy for households’ heating as low as possible.”—.. Poland’s leading opposition party is seeking to negotiate exemptions from the...

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — It was one of the biggest nights in Croatia's sporting calendar: a European Championship soccer qualifying match with Italy. Seconds after kick-off in a game beamed around the world, a gigantic swastika materialized on the pitch under the shocked gaze of European soccer officials. The swastika, sprayed by an unknown vandal with a chemical that became visible only when floodlights went on to start the game, has become the most potent symbol of a rise in ultra-nationalist sentiment that appears to be bleeding into the mainstream population in the European Union's newest member state. But it's...

David Cameron should lead Britain out of the EU if he is unable to secure a veto for the UK over European laws, win back control over employment rules and permanently protect the City from Eurozone regulations, a group of business leaders and economists has said. Unless the Prime Minister can achieve a fundamental change in Britain’s relationship with Brussels, the country’s households and businesses will be better off if the UK ops to leave the EU, the report concludes. The study, entitled Change, or Go, is the most detailed, fact based report produced to date on the UK's membership...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said after Friday's talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that a prospective Russian natural gas pipeline should help Greece service its debt, but the Kremlin said the question of direct Russian financial aid to Greece was not discussed. Speaking of the pipeline deal at a meeting with top executives of global news agencies, including The Associated Press, which began nearly three hours behind schedule at around midnight, Putin said he saw no support for the Greeks from the EU. "If EU wants Greece to pay its debts it should be...

MBDA is introducing today at the Paris Air Show a new, modular approach to missile design, as part of its traditional ‘Concept Vision’ theme. The new design dubbed ‘FlexIS’ is designed in standard diameters and comprises a common bus and flight control system, modular, contactless interface linking the seeker bay in the front and modular processor bank, providing the missile’s brain, located at the center. The rear part is also modular, accepting a variety of propulsion modules – miniature turbojet, single or dual pulse rocket with different propellant capacity supporting a broad range of applications. Different warheads can be used,...

Greece and its creditors hardened their stances on Monday after the collapse of talks aimed at preventing a default and possible euro exit, prompting Germany's EU commissioner to say the time had come to prepare for a "state of emergency". Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored pleas from European leaders to act fast. Instead he blamed creditors for Sunday's breakdown of the cash-for-reform talks, the biggest setback in long-running negotiations to unlock aid for Greece. Athens now has just two weeks to find a way out of the impasse before it faces a 1.6 billion euro repayment due to the...