Free Republic

[Translated from German] Since Thursday morning, a major police operation has been underway at Winterthur train station. Several areas and stairways around the new pedestrian and bicycle underpass are cordoned off. An eyewitness, who works across from the cordoned-off area, tells this editorial office that a man of middle age shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) around 8:30 a.m. and stabbed four men with a knife. At that very moment, a school class also passed the scene. The teacher then positioned herself protectively in front of the children. Another witness, a taxi driver, confirms that a man had been running...

Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that Ukraine be granted full membership of the European Union. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, had called for the country to be given a special half-in, half-out relationship, which would mean it could participate in European summits and ministerial meetings – but not cast a vote. Mr Zelensky criticised the “associate membership” concept, branding it an “unfair” move that would leave Ukraine “voiceless”. The Ukrainian president urged the EU to commit to his country’s full entry in a letter addressed to Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of...

Austria has moved to restrict refugee family reunification through a new quota-based system as part of a broader tightening of its asylum policy. The government says the measure will align migration flows with national capacity, while rights organizations warn it risks prolonging family separations. Austria’s parliament has approved legislation introducing caps on the number of family members able to join refugees each year, marking a significant shift in the country’s migration policy. The quota system is expected to take effect from July, though officials have not yet set a fixed number, saying it will depend on Austria’s reception and integration...

Two senior Polish defense ministry officials are on their way to Washington to get more information on why the U.S. suddenly canceled the deployment of 4,000 soldiers on a planned rotation to the country. Paweł Zalewski and Cezary Tomczyk — both deputy defense ministers — will try to get details on what Zalewski called "the incident." "No one in Poland knew that the rotation of the American brigade would be suspended," Zalewski told TOK FM radio on Monday morning. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth blindsided Warsaw by halting the long-planned deployment of soldiers with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st...

Britain would be forced to accept the European Union's refugee quota if Labour rejoins the bloc. Before Brexit, the UK was allowed to opt out of the EU's asylum policy. But now, sources have indicated rejoining the union would require the acceptance of all EU "acquis communautaire" - the complete body of common rights, obligations and legal framework by which which member states abide. Post-Brexit rules enforce quotas of relocated refugees, and governments which refuse to accept them are penalised by as much as £17,500 per person. Fresh fears were raised over rejoining the EU when Labour leadership hopeful Wes...

Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, already embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over the Iran war, has said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate. Speaking to a conference of young Catholics in Würzburg, the conservative leader, viewed by many as a transatlanticist, said he no longer saw the US as the land of opportunity. “I am a great admirer of America. At the moment my admiration is not growing,” he said during a podium discussion, citing the quickly changing “social climate” in the deeply polarised country. “I would...

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suffered an election setback as her left-leaning bloc appeared to have fallen short of winning enough votes to form a government. It sets the stage for tough coalition talks over the coming weeks. Frederiksen had called the snap vote months earlier than expected, seeking to capitalize on popular support after standing up to Trump’s push to annex Greenland.

The United States of America is in active talks with Greenland and Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland. US officials are seeking to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, as they work to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump when he threatened to seize Greenland by force. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, mentioned on Tuesday that increasing the U.S. military presence in the Arctic territory was ‌part of ongoing negotiations with Washington, as the United States’ desire to own or control the territory remains alive The...

After weeks of negotiations, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has failed to form a government... King Frederik X has now asked Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen to lead talks...Under the King's mandate, Poulsen is now expected to explore the formation of a government that excludes both the Social Democrats and the Moderates, signalling a major shift to the right in Denmark's political landscape.The move came after weeks of difficult coalition talks following Denmark's fragmented March snap election, which saw 12 parties enter parliament, with only three winning more than 10% of the vote.Although Frederiksen's Social Democrats recorded their weakest...

The European Union is moving to tighten migration controls after years of struggling to deport most migrants ordered to leave, with a top official saying the bloc is now working to "get control back" ahead of sweeping new asylum rules set to take effect in June. European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said deportations have increased and new border screening systems are identifying potential security threats, part of a broader effort to address gaps in enforcement that have drawn criticism from the United States and fueled political pressure across Europe. "Ten years ago, we didn't have a...

I spent last weekend crossing half the globe with Prime Minister Mark Carney, to spend a few hours with European leaders in Yerevan, the stunning Armenian capital, before crossing all the way back to Ottawa. Mr. Carney was the first non-European leader to be invited to a meeting of the European Political Community, a grouping that brings together the 27 European Union member states with allies and neighbors, including Britain and Turkey, as well as aspiring members such as Ukraine and Albania. This meeting happens twice a year, and it’s mostly a chance for the leaders to talk about pressing...

Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on track to become the strongest party in an eastern ​state election in September, a poll showed on ‌Thursday, raising the prospect of the far-right party leading a regional government for the first time. The infratest dimap survey showed ​support for the AfD climbing to 41% in ​the state of Saxony Anhalt, up 2 points ⁠from the last poll, and well ahead of ​Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU at 26%. The Social ​Democrats, Merz's junior partners in the federal coalition, trailed at 7%. Although support for the AfD has long been strongest in former...

In case of any doubt about Norway’s commitment to maintain – and expand – its production of gas and oil offshore, the energy minister, Terje Aasland, has a pithy response: “We will develop, not dismantle, activity on our continental shelf.” This week, to the alarm of environmental campaigners, he announced that three gasfields off the country’s southern coast would reopen by the end of 2028 – nearly three decades after they closed – to meet a shortfall caused by the impact of the war in Ukraine and disruption to supplies from the Middle East. The decision will help keep gas...

Polls opened Thursday for millions of Britons in a series of races set to heap more pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer and showcase the rise of hard-right and left-wing populist parties, both of which face accusations of antisemitism and bigotry at a time when Jews in the UK are under increasing threat. Voters across Scotland, England and Wales head to the ballot box in Starmer’s biggest electoral test since his July 2024 general election landslide victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Opinion polls predict grim results for Labour, which could amplify calls for Starmer, 63, to resign...

The Norwegian government has been heavily criticised for approving plans to reopen three North Sea gasfields nearly three decades after they were closed to help fill the gap in energy supplies created by the Middle East war. Amid sharp price rises in oil and gas since the US and Israel’s attack on Iran in February, Oslo has also given its approval for oil and gas companies to explore in 70 new locations in the North Sea, Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea. The decision by the Labour-run government goes against the advice of the country’s environment agency and has infuriated left-leaning...

The European Commission has drafted plans to give more free emissions permits to industries ​over the next few years, a move that ‌could save companies 4 billion euros ($4.68 billion) in CO2 costs, an internal EU document seen by Reuters showed on Monday. The EU's ​carbon market is the bloc's main tool for ​addressing CO2 emissions, which it does by forcing ⁠industries to buy CO2 emissions permits when they pollute. The ​scheme has come under growing political pressure from member states ​worried about Europe's faltering economic competitiveness, while some heavy industries have urged Brussels to give them more free CO2...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday she would not support any decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from Italy. "It is a decision that doesn't depend on me and one that I personally would not agree with," Meloni told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, on the sidelines of a European Political Community summit. Asked whether Washington would consider pulling its troops out of ​Italy and Spain, Trump last week answered "probably". Meloni added she would likely meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is due to travel to Rome later this week for talks,...

Two people have died and others are in life-threatening condition after a car was driven at “high speed” through a crowd in the city of Leipzig. Emergency services declared a mass casualty incident in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Monday afternoon after a car was driven “at high speed” through a pedestrianised city-centre area. Two people are confirmed dead and several more, likely dozens, are injured, two of them critically, after being struck by the driver’s vehicle. A suspect, said to be the driver, has been arrested. German daily newspaper Die Welt reports a police source stating the...

The establishment consensus is hardening. President Trump’s war with Iran is the culminating disaster of the most damaging and misguided American foreign policy in history. Iranian leaders are humiliating the U.S., German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned. “Superpower suicide” is how Wendy Sherman, a top Iran negotiator under President Obama and Joe Biden’s deputy secretary of state, described Mr. Trump’s Iran policy to ABC News. As Ms. Sherman sees it, the Iran war has alienated allies, assisted Russia financially, and weakened America’s position vis-à-vis China. For Fareed Zakaria, the question is no longer whether the administration’s policies will backfire but whether...

Europe will not submit to a more “brutal world”, and can instead be the base from which a new international order can be rebuilt, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, has said. Carney was speaking as the first non-European leader to attend a meeting of the European Political Community, which opened on Monday amid high tensions in the strait of Hormuz and renewed doubts about the US commitment to Nato. “We don’t think that we’re destined to submit to a more transactional, insular and brutal world, and gatherings such as these point to a better way forward,” he said. In...