Free Republic

Germany has made public burning of the EU flag or that of another country punishable by up to three years in jail, classing it as a hate crime. The vote in the Bundestag (parliament) on Thursday makes defiling foreign flags equal to the crime of defiling the German flag. The same applies for the EU anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy theme. The move followed Social Democrat (SPD) complaints about protesters’ burning of the Israeli flag in Berlin in 2017. …

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Poland's new prime minister has broken with the practice of pro-European predecessors and has removed the EU flag from her weekly news conference. Beata Szydlo appeared Tuesday to brief reporters after the first working meeting with her Cabinet since the conservative Law and Justice party took power last week, and stood in front of Polish flags only. Asked about the change, Szydlo said that in these difficult times she is grateful that Poland belongs to NATO and the EU, but that government press briefings devoted to national matters will from now on take place "against the...

Scissors in hand, anti-EU nationalist Geert Wilders of the Netherlands on Tuesday (20 May) vandalized the European Union flag in front of the European Parliament in Brussels. In a publicity stunt amid the dozen or so cafés at Place Luxembourg, overlooked by the parliament’s tall glass structures, Wilders cut out a yellow star before unfolding the Dutch flag in its place. The nationalist, who runs the Dutch Freedom Party, is convinced he will be able to form a new group of euroskeptic MEPs following the upcoming European Parliament elections. He wants the Netherlands to leave the Union, regain its sovereignty,...