Free Republic

In what many citizens concerned with the survival of Austria as a European nation-state are calling a demographic tipping point, Muslims have now become the largest religious group in Vienna’s compulsory schools, comprising a striking 41.2% of all students across primary, secondary, and vocational education levels. The stark demographic shift has sparked outrage among conservatives and nationally-minded citizens in Austria, with the Freedom Party (FPÖ) warning that the capital is being culturally transformed beyond recognition. “This is no longer immigration. This is displacement,” said Maximilian Weinzierl, national council member and leader of the FPÖ’s youth wing. “41.2% of Muslim students—that’s...

The European Union on Friday threatened to target US steel and textile exports in retaliation for Washington's restrictions on steel imports, unless the Bush administration agree to its demands for compensation. In an aggressive riposte to last week's White House decision to levy duties of up to 30 per cent on steel imports, the European Commission confirmed it was drawing up a list of US goods worth about $2bn which could face increased EU tariffs. The $2bn relates to the value of EU steel exports affected by the US tariffs. "The overall amount we'll be looking for is close to...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that he believed Vice President JD Vance was correct in his criticisms of European speech laws during a recent speech. Maher said, “JD Vance…the other week, made a speech, in Munich. A lot of people were shocked by it. I thought half of it was pretty shocking because it was about this election that they just had in Germany where there is a party on the ballot that is very Nazi-friendly.” He continued, “But the first part of the speech was about free speech, that I didn’t think he...

The European Union has floated a “zero-for-zero” tariff resolution with the Trump administration after 20% import levies were imposed by Washington last week. “We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday. “Because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,” she said at a press conference alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. “We stand ready to negotiate with the US,” von der Leyen added. “We are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson BREAKING: The S&P 500 gains $4 trillion following EU announcement of interest in zero for zero tariffs with United States. Last edited 9:43 AM · Apr 7, 2025

PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned fellow EU countries that joint defence is still realistic, but urged continued military cooperation with the US The Danish government will support a series of small steps to reinforce the EU's joint foreign and security policy this autumn, when member nations begin the dirty work of negotiating a new constitutional treaty for the European partnership. Denmark will neither contribute to majority-rule resolutions on defence, nor move to withdraw the military defence of Europe from the NATO alliance with the US, Rasmussen said Monday at an EU conference at Copenhagen's Industriens Hus. The prime minister warned...

Can the U.S. be trusted with German gold? That’s a question being asked by some German officials. Germany ranks second in gold reserves behind the U.S. It officially holds 3,352 tonnes of gold with about 1,236 tonnes (37 percent) held in Federal Reserve vaults in the U.S. Some are wondering whether holding over €100 billion in gold so far away is wise, given the geopolitical climate. European Taxpayers’ Association spokesperson Michael Jäger told The Bild that Germany should bring that gold home. “The Bundesbank and the federal government must show foresight in this phase of global political power shifts and...

The Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress say they will fully enforce sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and are prepared to expand them in response to recent efforts from top ICC officials to evade the measures. Earlier this month, Judge Tomoko Akane, the ICC’s president, petitioned the European Union to invoke what is known as the blocking statute, a legal maneuver that shields EU members from sanctions issued by third-party countries such as the United States. Akane told the EU’s parliament "it is obvious the court cannot survive alone," warning them that "the time to act...

Democrat Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told CNN Monday that the “average middle American” is too dumb to identify Greenland on a world map. Coons criticized President Donald Trump’s plan to purchase Greenland from Denmark and make it U.S. territory for resource and national security purposes, arguing that the plan will not resonate with the average American because they do not even know where the island is. Trump said no options for acquiring Greenland are off the table, emphasizing that a takeover of the island is a necessity to protect the U.S. against the threat of Russia and China’s increasing influence...

French politician Marine Le Pen and eight other members of her right-wing party were found guilty of embezzling public funds on Monday, and she herself was barred from running for public office. The French court did not immediately announce how long Le Penn will be ineligible for office, and she stormed out of the courtroom before he finished reading her sentence. She is a top candidate to run for president in 2027, and Le Pen has said that prohibiting her from running in that election would be "political death." Le Pen has argued that such a sentence would also effectively...

Paris CNN — French far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds, in a politically explosive ruling that has shattered her hopes of winning the presidency in 2027. A Paris court also handed Le Pen, who was the frontrunner for the next election, a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended, to be served under house arrest, and a €100,000 ($108,000) fine. She can appeal but the ban will stand unless overturned by another court. Her party, National Rally (RN), was ordered to...

After a few tense hours we have a definitive verdict and sentence - and it is the worst Marine Le Pen could have hoped for. She expected to be convicted, but the key question was the sentence. It is a five-year period of ineligibility which is to be carried out straight away. What this means is Le Pen cannot run in the next 2027 election - barring some legal twist of which I am completely unaware of. This of course is an earthquake. It has massive implications for her, her party and French democracy.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right French National Rally party, has been found guilty in an embezzlement case that could see her banned from running for office. Ms Le Pen and 24 other officials from National Rally were accused of diverting millions of euros from the European Parliament to pay for party staff. The money was meant to be used to pay for EU aides but instead was used to pay staff working for the French party. The defendants denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors pressed for Ms Le Pen to be banned from running from office for five years,...

China-owned British Steel said it could close its two blast furnaces as soon as June with the potential loss of up to 2,700 jobs, as U.S. tariffs and environmental costs threaten to damage its already struggling operations. British Steel, owned by China's Jingye Group, has warned for years that steelmaking in Scunthorpe, north east England, is loss-making, and has been in talks with the government for months about securing funding to switch to a greener type of steel production. But the two sides have failed to reach a deal, and British Steel said on Thursday it was making the "difficult...

This is the gravest crisis for Western security since the end of World War Two, and a lasting one. As one expert puts it, "Trumpism will outlast his presidency". But which nations are equipped to step to the fore as the US stands back? ... Donald Trump is the first US President since World War Two to challenge the role that his country set for itself many decades ago. And he is doing this in such a way that, to many, the old world order appears to be over - and the new world order has yet to take shape....

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION On March 25, 1821, fueled by the rallying cry, “Freedom or Death,” Greek revolutionaries began a war for independence against the Ottoman Empire. The hard-fought victory established a sovereign Greek state and a national homeland for Greece. On the 204th anniversary of Greek Independence Day, we honor this heroic fight for freedom, and the enduring democratic ideals that continue to inspire the world. America is inextricably tied to both ancient and modern Greece. We are tethered by history and tradition, the struggle for self-governance, emancipation, and rebirth. Our Founding...

On March 25, 1821, fueled by the rallying cry, “Freedom or Death,” Greek revolutionaries began a war for independence against the Ottoman Empire. The hard-fought victory established a sovereign Greek state and a national homeland for Greece. On the 204th anniversary of Greek Independence Day, we honor this heroic fight for freedom, and the enduring democratic ideals that continue to inspire the world. America is inextricably tied to both ancient and modern Greece. We are tethered by history and tradition, the struggle for self-governance, emancipation, and rebirth. Our Founding Fathers drew inspiration from Greek philosophers and statesmen to form the...

The foiled attack came as the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas paid a visit to Israel and the occupied Bank on Monday, where she met with both Israeli and Palestinian officials. The Israeli military on Monday said it intercepted a long-range missile launched from Yemen over Jerusalem, triggering air raid sirens and explosions over the city. Local officials said they believed the missile to be from Houthi rebels in Yemen, where a handful of long-range missiles have been fired from in recent days following the resumption of war in Gaza by Israeli forces. There was no immediate claim...

An Israel Defense Forces carried out an airstrike on a Gaza hospital on Sunday night, killing the new "Hamas Prime Minister". The militant group has confirmed his death. IDF claimed that Hamas has been exploiting civilian infrastructure like hospitals to hide terrorists. The Gaza health ministry run by Hamas said the strike was targeted at the surgery department of the hospital. Who was Ismail Barhoum? Identified as Ismail Barhoum, the top Hamas official had replaced Issam Da’alis as the "prime minister" of the militant group in Gaza. Barhoum, who was injured in an earlier airstrike, was being treated at the...

The European Parliament has, once again, found itself at the heart of a corruption scandal, this time involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Police raids have been carried out across Belgium and Portugal amid suspicions of bribery, forgery, money laundering, and organized criminal activity. The European Parliament’s latest corruption scandal unfolds even as the previous one—the so-called ‘Qatargate’ affair—remains under investigation and litigation, further deepening preexisting concerns about foreign influence in EU institutions. The Qatargate scandal, which surfaced more than two years ago, involves allegations that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), lobbyists, and their families accepted substantial sums of...