Free Republic

The Constitutional Court in the European Union (EU) and NATO member state Romania has canceled its presidential elections just days before a scheduled vote, claiming a Russian interference campaign is the reason a pro-Trump candidate populist was the favorite to win the race.Romanian judges annulled the second round of the presidential elections as polls suggested populist, NATO-critical candidate Călin Georgescu, who won a surprise victory in the election’s first round, was likely to win Sunday’s vote. According to the court, Georgescu benefits from an influence campaign on social media platforms like TikTok, similar to some run by the Russian government.

The three most right-wing groups of the European Parliament and their members are all known as "far-right" — but they have some crucial differences. The members of Patriots for Europe met in Brussels for the first time on Thursday, convening on the sidelines of the European summit. The group is one of three at the right-wing end of the European Parliament, joined by Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). The parties making up these three parliamentary groups are generally nationalist, sovereigntist, conservative and Eurosceptic, thoguh their positions differ on Russia and Ukraine and on...

PARIS (AP) — French authorities on Friday raised preliminary terrorism charges against an 18-year-old accused of a plot targeting spectators attending soccer games at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The interior minister said it was the first such thwarted plot targeting the Games, which start in eight weeks as France is on its highest threat alert level. The man is accused of planning a ‘’violent action’’ on behalf of the Islamic State group’s jihadist ideology, the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement Friday. The man, who was not identified, is behind held in custody pending further investigation. Interior Minister...

The far-right social media network Gab now hosts a Hitler chatbot, sparking fears over AI’s ability for online radicalisation. There is no point arguing with Adolf Hitler, who only self-victimises and is, unsurprisingly, a Holocaust denier. This is not the real Hitler risen from the dead, of course, but something equally concerning: an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot version of the fascist dictator responsible for the mass genocide of European Jews throughout World War II. Created by the far-right US-based Gab social network, Gab AI is host to numerous AI chatbot characters, many of which emulate or parody famous historical and modern-day...

For the first time in Germany, the AfD has won a district council election, administrators announced on Sunday. Voters in the central German town of Sonneberg elected AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann at the expense of incumbent district administrator Jürgen Köpper of the CDU. In the runoff election in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg, Sesselmann won 52.8% of the vote, earning him the necessary absolute majority, according to election officials. The area of some 57,000 people is one of the smallest districts in Germany. Still, the AfD victory is a major breakthrough for the far-right party, which mainstream parties have refused...

Germany has a problem. For years, politicians and security chiefs rejected the notion of any far-right infiltration of the security services, speaking only of “individual cases.” The idea of networks was dismissed. The superiors of those exposed as extremists were protected. Guns and ammunition disappeared from military stockpiles with no real investigation. The government is now waking up. Cases of far-right extremists in the military and the police, some hoarding weapons and explosives, have multiplied alarmingly. The nation’s top intelligence officials and senior military commanders are moving to confront an issue that has become too dangerous to ignore. The problem...

Rarely has Horst Seehofer appeared so honest. Quiet, composed, but with a slightly raspy voice, Germany’s interior minister on Friday afternoon opened his press conference with journalists concerning the shooting in Hanau. “The racist background to this act in my view is completely undisputed and cannot be relativized,” he said. Seehofer noted that there was a very high “right-wing” danger in the country and for democracy, and that represents “the greatest security threat in our country.”As a consequence of the attack on Wednesday afternoon, the interior minister said “sensitive institutions” such as mosques would see an increased police presence. More...