Free Republic

A Finnish politician convicted under "hate speech" law has lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights. The case marks the concluding legal chapter in a seven-year battle over freedom of expression in Europe. Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish MP found guilty of "insulting" a group by Finland's Supreme Court, received her conviction in March 2026 for views on marriage and sexual ethics she had set out in a booklet produced for her church more than two decades ago, in 2004. She was ordered to pay thousands of euros in fines. Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal organisation acting on...

This video explores the reasons behind the European Union's current economic struggles compared to the United States and China. The continent is facing a "moment of reckoning" characterized by low productivity, a reliance on traditional industries, and a lack of investment in transformative digital technologies. Key Takeaways: Economic Stagnation: The EU economy is estimated to be roughly 18% smaller than it might have been, resulting in a €3 trillion shortfall in annual income (0:36-0:45, 4:11-4:20). The Draghi Report: Former ECB president Mario Draghi warned that Europe's competitiveness is weak. He emphasized that the EU must invest hundreds of billions of...

A Hungarian conservative influencer was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday, July 8th and has since been released after spending several hours in custody, in a case that seems to confirm the new, pro-Brussels Hungarian government’s authoritarian tendencies. István Szakács was taken into custody in the western city of Győr after police searched his home. Eight officers arrived shortly after 6 a.m., carried out a house search, and took him away for questioning. The police said they were investigating Szakács on suspicion of making threats related to a terrorist offence. The allegation stems from a Facebook video in which...

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde rejected claims in an exclusive interview with Euronews that the digital euro is designed to replace cash or allow the central bank to monitor payments, as the legislation entered a new phase following months of talks in the European Parliament. The digital euro will complement, not replace, cash, and the goal is not to trace payments, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told Euronews in an exclusive interview, rejecting claims that the project is designed to monitor citizens. The European Parliament approved its negotiating mandate on Thursday, bringing the legislation a step closer to...

Francken just had a bad idea and acted on it. In today’s NATO summit in Turkey, Belgium is one of the lowest-investing countries in the alliance – and now, its Defense Minister has gone on a limb against Donald J. Trump because of his social media spat with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken is aware that Europe needs the U.S. to defend the continent, and he thinks the alliance leaders should be careful not to alienate Trump. While the Trump-Meloni spat escalated on Sunday with the US President posting a photo of Meloni, joking that...

EU Parliament CHANTS "Send Them Back" After Voting to DEPORT Illegal Migrants (VIDEO 16 Seconds Long)

…While nearly 90% of US homes have air conditioning, in Europe it’s around 20%. As climate change drives more severe and prolonged heat waves, which arrive earlier and earlier, some are questioning why wealthy European countries have been seemingly reluctant to adopt air conditioning — especially as the heat takes an increasingly deadly toll. … “In Europe… we simply don’t have the tradition of air conditioning… because up to relatively recently, it hasn’t been a major need,” said Brian Motherway, head of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions … Buildings on the continent tend to be older, built...

Ten years following the landmark vote, the EU's former Brexit negotiator said the bloc's door is open to the UK, but that London "cannot cherry-pick" EU policies. Former European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Euronews that it is up to the United Kingdom to decide whether it would want to rejoin the bloc, but that Brussels has made its conditions clear. His comments come ten years after the UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48%, and at a time when polling shows a clear majority of the British public, across party lines, views doing so as...

A decade ago today, June 23rd, 2016, 52% of the British electorate voted to leave the European Union. It was a massively consequential moment for the U.K.’s economy and political scene, and kicked off one of the most tumultuous decades in the country’s recent history. On Monday, Keir Starmer announced he would resign as prime minister after two years in seat—something that may seem short for leaders of some countries, but for the U.K., ranks as one of the longer tenures in recent years. Nominations for a successor will open next month and a next party leader is likely to...

Had someone the ability and the intestinal fortitude to be a fly equipped with a teeny, tiny camera on Angela Merkel's wall yesterday morning, there is no doubt in my mind they would have caught a time-lapse sequence of Merkel's bucket gourd doing a 360° rotation akin to Linda Blair's little head in The Exorcist. Only, instead of the movie's excruciatingly slow rotation, Merkel's head would have been spinning at warp speed and threatening to fly off into the room. I am sure the ex-German chancellor and architect of the current German immigration crisis never expected to hear the chamber...

Members of the European Parliament erupted in chants of “Send Them Back!” moments after the chamber overwhelmingly approved what is being called the EU’s 'strictest-ever' migration and return law on Wednesday. This marks a major policy shift in Europe. It follows years of uncontrolled illegal crossings and relentless public pressure. That pressure translated to significant gains for conservative and populist parties in recent elections. Right-wing and center-right MEPs exemplified the energy and desire for change as chants rang out on the floor of the parliament chamber. "Send them back!" indeed. This is an incredible display. Euronews has described the legislation...

Glyphosate-based formulations (GBFs), such as Roundup, are the most heavily used herbicides in the world. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that glyphosate and GBFs are probably carcinogenic to humans, mainly for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)... In 2021, the French Institute of Health and Medical Research... also found that many studies demonstrated genotoxic damage (DNA breaks or structural changes) consistent with the induction of oxidative stress by glyphosate/GBFs, sometimes at exposure levels experienced by human populations... In a recent study of Thai farmers, a high frequency (97.6%) of those spraying GBFs with backpack sprayers had high...

European security services are investigating suspected Iran-linked attacks on synagogues, Israeli sites, and opposition groups. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has warned that Iran could expand covert operations across Europe once fighting with the U.S. and Israel subsides, raising fears of attacks on Jewish targets, Israeli institutions, and opponents of the Tehran regime. The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) said Iranian dissidents and other individuals regarded by Tehran as “traitors” would face particular danger if the regime increases its intelligence and proxy activities across the continent. One BfV official told Euractiv that the service is monitoring individuals based in Germany who have...

Iran said on Saturday (Oct 18) that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear programme as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its "commitment to diplomacy". The 2015 deal - signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. But the pact had already been in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during President Donald Trump's first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitment. The...

The EU assumes the truth of an ideology that most Hungarians—and millions of other Europeans—reject. On April 21, just nine days after Viktor Orban’s electoral defeat in the Hungarian parliamentary elections, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its ruling in Commission v. Hungary, decreeing that Hungary’s 2021 Child Protection Law prohibiting the exposure of minors to LGBT propaganda is in violation of EU law and core values. Sixteen member states joined the EU Parliament in the case against Hungary, and so the outcome was, in many ways, foreordained. Mark Rutte—then prime minister of the Netherlands, now secretary...

On Monday, the European Union announced sanctions on Israelis, including Daniella Weiss, the 80-year-old former mayor of a Jewish community in Judea and Samaria, and on Tuesday, it invited the Taliban, an Islamic terrorist group allied with Al Qaeda, to come to Brussels for talks. “Extremisms and violence carry consequences,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Israel. Obviously. And the consequence of extremism and violence is an invite to Brussels.At least if you’re a Muslim terrorist. Over the last decade, Islamic terrorists associated with ISIS, an Al Qaeda splinter group, have killed over 34 people in two bombing, four...

European negotiators agreed late on Tuesday to implement the controversial trade agreement concluded last summer with the US. However, the deal — signed in the Scottish city of Turnberry — remains fragile as long as US President Donald Trump continues to use tariffs as a tool of political pressure. Diplomats and MEPs reached an agreement late on Tuesday to implement the contentious EU-US agreement, which eliminates duties on most US industrial goods imported into Europe. The negotiations concluded two weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on EU cars if Europeans did not implement the agreement...

Sweden, together with the European Commission, will hold talks with the Taliban. The goal is to enable deportations to Afghanistan - but the announcement is being criticized. "A deal with extremists," says Annika Hirvonen (MP). Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) tells TT that the Swedish government has been "very proactive" in the EU on securing deportations to Afghanistan. The issue of being able to carry out more criminal deportations, i.e. of people who have been convicted of crimes in Sweden or who pose a threat to Sweden's security, is one of my most important priorities, he says. According to Forssell,...

President Donald Trump has said he will give the European Union until July 4 to ratify its trade agreement with the U.S., threatening to raise tariffs to “much higher” levels if the 27-nation bloc fails to do so. In a post on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump issued a new trade deadline during a “great call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one in which he said both leaders agreed Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. The conversation took place shortly after the U.S. president pledged to raise tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the EU...

President Trump announced Friday he would soon raise tariffs to 25% on vehicles imported from the European Union, claiming the bloc was non-compliant with its US trade deal. “I am pleased to announce that, based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States,” he said in a post to Truth Social. Companies that build vehicles in the United States will be exempt from the tariff, he added. “Many Automobile and Truck...