Free Republic

Births in Türkiye fell again in 2025, continuing a decline that has put NATO's youngest population on a course President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called a "demographic disaster." For decades, the country of 85 million and rising military power had the bloc’s highest total fertility rate (TFR). In 2016, it stood at 2.1 births per woman, the level needed to sustain a population naturally. By the end of last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported it had fallen to 1.48, driven by prolonged economic downturn, rising cost of living and changing social norms among young people. It’s a familiar pattern...

Hundreds of Danish protesters, many of whom are military veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, staged a demonstration in Copenhagen on Saturday outside the U.S. Embassy. The group was protesting President Donald Trump’s push that the U.S. acquire Greenland from Denmark and his remarks at Davos that NATO forces "stayed a little back" when they fought alongside the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They have a feeling that they’ve been betrayed," Carsten Rasmussen, president of the Danish Veterans Association, told The Associated Press. "And of course, they are angered by this. They deployed. They fought with the Americans. They...

According to the former head of European diplomacy, the EU should recognize the shift in American policy and respond accordinglyBRUSSELS, November 25. /TASS/. Europe can no longer consider the United States an ally after American President Donald Trump put forward his plan for the Ukrainian settlement without any input from the EU, former head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said. As evidenced by the 28-point plan for a Ukrainian settlement, the United States under Trump can no longer be considered an ally of Europe, which is not even consulted on issues affecting its own security, he wrote on X. According...

Memorial Day brings together people from all political persuasions in remembrance and celebration of dead American soldiers. Libertarians, however, should reject a holiday that consecrates and immortalizes the names and lives of those who sacrificed themselves in unnecessary wars. The National Memorial Day was originally a national day of prayer for peace. Prior to President Richard Nixon’s declaration, there were many regional memorial days established and spontaneously practiced for a similar purpose. Unfortunately, it has become less about ending wars and more about worshipping conflict.