Free Republic

The Western Alliance was already fraying long before the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began earlier this month. But the collective refusal of European leaders to even entertain the idea of assisting the U.S. in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open – and their personal insults against President Donald Trump – may have fractured the relationship beyond repair. As Iranian forces continue to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which 20-30 percent of all global crude oil flows, President Trump has called on European nations to form an international coalition to help reopen the strait....

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Europe's medicines regulator recommended approval for Moderna's COVID and flu combination vaccine on Friday, putting it on track to become the ‌first single shot to protect people aged 50 and older against both illnesses. Currently ‌people need two separate shots to protect them against COVID-19 and influenza and the vaccines are updated regularly to ​match the viral strains in circulation. Moderna is banking on the COVID-flu combination shot and also an mRNA-based flu shot to help it return to revenue growth as demand for COVID vaccines has collapsed in the years after the pandemic. It hopes...

POZNAN, Poland (AP) — A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. Today, the economy of the country has edged past Switzerland to become the world’s 20th largest with more than $1 trillion in annual output. It’s a historic leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to European growth champion, which economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people — and that the Trump administration says should be recognized by Poland’s presence at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies later this year. The...

In an expedited procedure, the European Commission recently raised tariffs on ceramic and porcelain products from China. Additional tariff measures are also being considered to protect the European internal market from the Chinese export engine. Is the EU economy now facing a trade war with Beijing, alongside the potential import halt on rare earths? Tensions in international trade policy are escalating on multiple fronts. After the U.S. Supreme Court initially declared the tariff regime implemented by President Donald Trump since April of last year unlawful, it appears the administration has explored new ways to stabilize its tariff policy going forward....

European vacation destinations will begin requiring all travelers to have prints of their fingers taken, as well as photos, upon arrival in a new screening process. France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and 25 other countries began implementing a new Entry/Exit System (EES) on Oct. 12 — and come April 10, it will be fully enforced. The program will be introduced "in phases," officials say. "These European countries will introduce the different elements of the EES in phases, including the collection of biometric data, such as facial image and fingerprints," the European Union’s (EU) website notes. "This means that biometric...

EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné on Wednesday presented a strategy shutting Beijing out of EU public funding by introducing a European preference in strategic sectors. Countries which limit access to their own markets through local content rules would also be cut off. The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited industrial plan, rolling out a “European Preference” that shuts China out of European public funding and tightens the screws on Beijing’s future investments in the European Union. The move comes after 200,000 European jobs were wiped out in energy-intensive industries and the automotive sector since 2024, with 600,000 losses projected this...

Big Tech is planning multi-billion-dollar investments in its own energy generation. Combined with the ongoing AI boom, the massive expansion of data centers is stretching every capital market framework to its limits. Even the European bond market is increasingly in the crosshairs of companies and investors. For the heavily indebted states of the European Union, this is not good news. The “credit pump” could rightfully claim its place as a symbolic flag of the European Union. With virtually unlimited access to the bond market, politics magically transforms an inexhaustible credit stream into political maneuvers and ideological wizardry. Through this manipulation...

France's official reaction to the Iran War is one of opposition to Iran's nuclear program and its human rights record... On Friday the European Commission unilaterally and provisionally implementing the MERCOSUR trade deal vehemently opposed by French farmers. The deal will allow France to be flooded with agricultural products from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay... A tweaking of the French cabinet this week the departure of the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati... A diplomatic standoff this week between French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and US Ambassador Charles Kushner. The row over US government social media posting in the name...

The resolution, adopted last week, made a host of recommendations for the EU to pursue at the 70th annual UN Commission on the Status of Women, which is set to take place next month. Among the recommendations was a proclamation emphasising the “importance of the full recognition of trans women as women, noting that their inclusion is essential for the effectiveness of any gender-equality and anti-violence policies”. Other proclamations referencing LGBTQ+ people included the need for a “comprehensive tool to monitor and counter democratic backsliding and backsliding in women’s rights”, as well as the acknowledgement of a rise in attacks...

The European Parliament has adopted a non-binding resolution setting out the European Union’s priorities for the upcoming session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, including language recognising trans women as women within the framework of EU gender equality policy. The resolution was approved on 12 February by 340 votes in favour, 141 against and 68 abstentions. The adopted text forms part of the European Union’s negotiating position ahead of the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which will take place in New York next month. The Commission, established in 1946...

EU Europe is increasingly abandoning a civilized approach to dissenting opinions. The raid on the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s company X appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Today, those who resist are being attacked on multiple levels, while those who submit are largely spared. It is time to increase pressure on Brussels. Elon Musk’s communications platform X has become caught between systemic fronts. On one side stands the American understanding of free speech, which has experienced a political revival under Donald Trump’s new presidency. On the other, an increasingly repressive EU control regime is eroding the...

A set of internal documents published by the Republican members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee (Judiciary GOP) has sent shockwaves through Brussels. Released under the title The EU Censorship Files, Part II, the investigation presents documentary evidence of a sustained strategy by the European Commission to influence public debate on social media and digital platforms, pressuring major tech companies to censor lawful content, alter their internal rules, and restrict certain political viewpoints. https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/2018683758006665352 The revelations go far beyond an abstract debate over content moderation. According to the material made public, the Commission has directly or indirectly intervened in at...

Just because you're paranoid about digital sovereignty doesn't mean they're not after youOpinion I'm an eighth-generation American, and let me tell you, I wouldn't trust my data, secrets, or services to a US company these days for love or money. Under our current government, we're simply not trustworthy. In the Trump‑redux era of 2026, European enterprises are finally taking data seriously, and that means packing up from Redmond-by-Seattle and moving their most sensitive workloads home. This isn't just compliance theater; it's a straight‑up national economic security play. Europe's digital sovereignty paranoia, long waved off as regulatory chatter, is now...

As much of Europe pushes back against President Donald Trump’s bid to acquire Greenland, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is taking a markedly different stance, telling Europe that it should “be happy” Trump is in charge. Speaking Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rutte credited Trump with forcing major European powers — including France, Italy, and Spain — to finally step up their defense commitments. Without Trump’s pressure, Rutte said, these countries would never have agreed to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. “I’m not popular with you now because I’m defending Donald Trump, but...

There has always been a touch of the actor about Emmanuel Macron, and the President of France was at his theatrical best at Davos on Tuesday. Sporting a pair of aviator sunglasses to conceal a broken blood vessel in his eye, Macron played the part of a man unjustly treated. Not just him, but all of Europe. “We do prefer respect to bullies,” concluded Macron in his address to the World Economic Forum. “We do prefer science to plotism, and we do prefer rule of law to brutality. You are welcome in Europe and you are more than welcome to...

🚨ALICE WEIDEL ANNOUNCES GERMANY WILL LEAVE THE EU When the AfD wins the next election she intends to give Germans the chance to vote to leave the "Monstrous EU" This will bring the whole thing crashing down This is why they don't want her to win

A tell-all describes how the war in Gaza loomed over the 2024 campaign and strained Biden’s reelection bidJosh Shapiro’s Judaism was not a factor in Kamala Harris passing him over as a running mate, according to a 2024 election tell-all, contradicting a narrative Republicans eagerly peddled. If anything, Harris rejected Shapiro because they had too much in common — both were former attorneys general who hoped to be president. That and poor chemistry knocked Shapiro out of the running, according to How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America, by political reporters Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and...

Brussels doubles down on gender, diversity, and decarbonisation while Europe’s strategic and social problems are pushed aside. The European Commission has just made public its political priorities for 2026, and the result is hard to justify from any minimally realistic perspective. In an international context marked by war, geopolitical competition, energy insecurity, and internal social deterioration, Brussels has chosen to double down on an ideological agenda that appears utterly detached from the material reality facing Europeans. While much of the world is moving towards more pragmatic positions on foreign policy, defence, and economic sovereignty, the European Union insists on turning...

Nato’s silence in response to Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland has prompted alarm among European capitals fearful that the alliance is failing to defend the rights of Denmark. It has not issued a public statement asserting Denmark and Greenland’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, or responded to the US president’s stated ambition for the vast Arctic island that is part of the kingdom of Denmark. That has raised the ire of European members trying to present a united front and ease transatlantic tensions, and stands in stark contrast to the EU’s recent efforts to rally around Copenhagen. Mark Rutte, the...

The Prime Minister is planning to enter into a furious battle to win back left-wing support.Keir Starmer is preparing to blow up Britain's newly-found democratic sovereignty to decide its own laws, in order to pick a fight with Nigel Farage. The Prime Minister is reportedly planning brand new legislation that would return swathes of key decision-making powers back to Brussels as part of his ideological crusade to quietly reverse Brexit. The new legislation is set to give the EU the sole right to alter huge areas of British law such as food standards, animal welfare and the environment. However unlike...