Free Republic

<p>8:05 p.m.</p> <p>French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned violence by protesters at demonstrations against rising fuel taxes and his government.</p> <p>Macron said in a strongly worded tweet: “Shame on those who attacked (police). Shame on those who were violent against other citizens ... No place for this violence in the Republic.”</p>

Plans to move towards the creation of a European army are reportedly being kept secret from British voters until the day after next month’s referendum. Drawn up by the EU’s foreign policy chief, the Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy foresees the formation of new European military and operational structures. This first step towards an EU army is supported by Germany and other countries, The Times reports. In 2011, similar proposals were vetoed by Britain, although there were concerns that a loophole could allow nine states to group together to bypass opponents. In an effort to avoid derailing the...

In an article for the New York Times, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski have proposed a drastic revamp of the European Union. To provide the democratic legitimacy that must accompany greater centralization they propose a directly elected president of the European Commission and endowing the European Parliament with the powers to initiate legislation and not merely block it as is the practice today. … The centralization will not be merely economic, but will seek integration in foreign and defense policy that will no longer be hobbled by the need to achieve unanimity. Changes would...