Free Republic

The Polish government has told its citizens to cash in on British benefits before returning home. Advice published on Powroty, a Polish government website for citizens living abroad who wish to return home, says "when leaving the UK, it is worth considering whether you are eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance". Post-Brexit arrangements allow European Union citizens who acquired settled status before December 2020 to transfer some benefit payments abroad when they move to an EU country, for up to three months. It means those returning to Europe can claim hundreds of pounds from the British taxpayer to support their job hunt,...

The European Commission’s headquarters was forced to shut down its air-conditioning system on Friday due to the heat wave. Staff working at the Berlaymont building received a text at midday, reading: “BERL — URGENT — Due to extreme weather conditions, forced shut down of air cooling system from floor 1 to 7 for the rest of the day.” The 13-story building is home to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, her 26 commissioners and about 3,000 staff. Von der Leyen works on the 13th floor, and most of her commissioners’ offices are housed on floors eight or above. Belgium and...

President Trump threatened to scrap a just-finalized trade deal with the European Union on Friday, saying that any country that levies a digital services tax would be hit immediately with a 100 percent tariff on all exports to the United States. Mr. Trump seized on the fact that several European countries are discussing imposing such taxes. Those taxes would apply to the revenue that major U.S. tech firms earn in Europe. If they choose to proceed, the United States would “immediately" impose a 100 percent tariff on them, he said. “This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country,...

Wealthy nations with the highest rate of immigration over the past 35 years reaped a large economic benefit and many could still absorb more ​workers, according to research to be presented at a top European Central Bank conference next week. Political tensions ‌over immigration have been on the rise in recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant parties have helped drive the issue to near the top of the political agenda while making headway in countries including the U.S., Germany and Britain. The study, which looked at data in dozens of rich ​countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said...

Numerous European Countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on American Companies. Some of these Countries are close to actually doing this. Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America. This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% TARIFF will be immediately imposed, if they proceed. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

France is ready to discuss a 'Breturn' if and when Andy Burnham takes over at No10, one minister revealed. A French minister has flung open the doors for Britain to return to the EU - in the face of the wishes of 17,410,742 British voters. Claiming Brexit has "failed", Jean-Noel Barrot, the French Foreign Minister also backed Andy Burnham - who previously said he would like to see Britain rejoin the bloc - to become Prime Minister. Mr Burnham said while campaigning he was "not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU", adding that he respected the result of...

There's a major heatwave taking place across most of Europe this week. Here's visualization showing the "temperature anomalies" which have driven temperatures in many European capitals close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (and in some cases over that). Europe is melting! The size, intensity, and longevity of this #heatwave is enormous. Peak temperatures will reach 45°C / 100-115°F this week in #France . You are looking at temperature anomalies in the cloud layer over the next 2 weeks, which peak at +20°C. #Europe is Earth’s fastest warming continent, and European heat extremes are increasing faster than models project they should, likely...

Airbus, Leonardo and Thales announced Thursday that they will combine their satellite and space activities to form a “leading European player in space,” as the region looks for a homegrown rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The companies — each a heavyweight in the aerospace and defense sector in their own right — said the joint venture would develop and build, “a comprehensive portfolio of complementary technologies and end-to-end solutions, from space infrastructure to services.” The development of space launchers will be excluded from the new company’s operations. The combined entity is expected to generate mid-triple-digit million euros in annual synergies...

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to calm tensions with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, using a mix ​of flattery and gentle pushback to argue that instances of allies' reluctance to support the U.S. war with Iran were limited to "isolated cases." Trump, a longtime NATO critic who has called the alliance a "paper tiger," has been angered by allies' refusal to support the U.S. in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a U.S.-Israeli attack on ​Iran on February 28 disrupted the major oil shipping route. During the Oval Office meeting,...

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...

France has confirmed its first case of Ebola - a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The doctor was "immediately admitted to a specialised facility" and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday. DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously. More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected. This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe,...

Denmark is planning to ban the Islamic call to prayer, with the country's immigration minister claiming parts of the nation risk sounding like 'a suburb of Islamabad'. 'It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn't be in any doubt whether you've ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.' The Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, is traditionally broadcast five times a day to summon worshippers to mosques, often through loudspeakers mounted on minarets. Bødskov's proposal marks the third attempt by a Danish immigration minister to establish a legal framework for banning the practice, following...

The sheer amount of roughly one million illegal migrants in Spain seeking amnesty could lead to a “collapse” of the nation’s basic services such as housing, education, or security, experts warned. Spain is presently in the final weeks of a widely-criticized mass amnesty process launched by the government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that aims to grant half a million illegal migrants with “legal” residence status, work permits, and other benefits. Despite the initial “half a million” estimates stated by Spanish officials in January, officials recently acknowledged that over 900,000 amnesty requests had been submitted by migrants, confirming estimates...

June 21 (UPI) -- The Russian government on Sunday halted fuel sales to civilians and businesses not considered vital to functioning and security in Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea, announced people would be turned away from gas stations amid a fuel shortage and logistical difficulties related to the war with Ukraine, the BBC reported. "Further decisions regarding the current situation in the republic's fuel market will be announced at a later date," he said in a post on Telegram. The announcement came amid new attacks by Ukraine on energy and transportation infrastructure on the Crimean Peninsula, Politico reported....

French President Emmanuel Macron has shot down the idea of backing a collective European project to establish illegal migrant return hubs outside the bloc, after the EU Parliament paved the way earlier this week. Claiming that it is contrary to the supposed values of “Europe”, President Macron said that France will not agree to fund any EU migrant return hubs, nor will Paris seek to partner on an individual basis with a third-party country, as it will be allowed to under the new returns regulations passed on Wednesday in Strasbourg. Rather than allowing illegals to remain in EU nations while...

The European Parliament will switch to French ​search engine Qwant from Google (GOOGL.O), ‌it said on Wednesday, underscoring Europe's push to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology ​in favour of local alternatives. The ​European Commission will later on Wednesday ⁠announce measures on chips, cloud computing ​services and AI as part of ​its "Buy and Use European" drive. "From 4 June 2026, Qwant will become the default search engine ​on the European Parliament's Microsoft ​Edge and Mozilla Firefox browsers," a Parliament spokesperson ‌said ⁠in an email. The change will be applied automatically, though users will still be able to select alternative...

President Trump arrived late to Wednesday’s morning G7 meeting but wasn’t fazed as he walked into the session already in progress, declaring to his fellow leaders he was the “boss.” The rest of the G7 leaders were seated and were beginning their discussion on economic issues when Trump walked into the room. President Emmanuel Macron welcomed him with, “Oh, hello, Mr. President.” Trump paused on his way to his seat and declared, “I’m the boss” as everyone laughed. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was seated at the American place at the table but quickly vacated after Trump’s arrival, letting the president...

The Hungarian parliament approved a constitutional amendment this week that is set to prevent former leader Viktor Orbán from standing again for prime minister.Recently elected Hungarian PM Péter Magyar appears to have cemented his grip on power in Budapest this week, with the National Assembly voting 135 to 50 in favour of imposing an eight-year term limit for prime ministers, 24.hu reported.Critics have noted that there is only one man alive to whom this would apply, former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and have therefore accused Magyar of seeking to ban his political opponents.

Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels in transport is leaving the country exposed to repeated fuel price shocks as global energy markets remain disrupted, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has warned. Accelerated investment in public transport, active travel, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and grid capacity would reduce this exposure, the council said in the transport chapter of its 2026 Annual Review. Temporary emergency responses to fuel price increases were not sufficiently targeted, it said, recommending that those most exposed and least able to avoid fuel costs be given support. Welcoming the Government’s pilot scrappage scheme to incentivize the purchase of...

More than 700 people have crossed the Channel on 11 small boats - the highest number in a single day so far this year. The Home Office said 710 migrants made the crossing on Monday. It follows two weeks of windy weather when there were no crossings at all. A total of 9,852 people have made the journey so far this year - a fall of 40% compared with the same period in 2025. The Home Office has said it was "bearing down" on small boat crossings. In April, the UK and France confirmed a new £662m deal to stop...