Free Republic

Ursula's new "European Media Freedom Act" permits the arrest of journalists if it is in the "public interest." ... The act also allows surveillance software to be deployed on devices used by media service providers, editorial staff, or related persons in the “public interest. Who decides the “public interest?” Sophie ... The new law also contains numerous provisions that call for action against alleged "disinformation." Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President ... "national lists" are to be created listing the owners and addresses of media outlets, as stipulated in Article 6. Despite its intent to strengthen media freedom, critics...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that a framework trade agreement struck between the European Union and the United States was “anti-Russian” likening it to a de facto ban on buying Russian oil and gas. The U.S. struck the deal with the EU on Sunday, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement afterwards that the agreement would help the bloc fully phase out Russian fossil fuels in favour of American alternatives. “Purchases of U.S. energy products will diversify our sources of supply and...

Love or hate his strategy, President Trump is getting exactly what he wants from his tariff push. On Sunday during his trip to Scotland, President Trump locked down a trade deal with the European Union which the haters told us couldn't be done. I think this headline from CNBC really says it all: And this: If Europe is balking that means the tariffs did their job and that Trump got exactly what he wanted from the trade deal, forcing the EU to give up some of their leverage. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday alongside Trump that...

SUMMARY: * The United States and European Union have reached a trade deal which will see a blanket tariff of 15% on all EU goods imported to the US. * President Trump says the EU has promised hundreds of billions of dollars of investment and energy purchases. * Trump and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met for talks in Scotland on Sunday - she has called the agreement a "huge deal" * The new deal is set to kick in on Friday, and means the Europe will avoid threatened import charges of 30% A trade deal...

Okay, this is a very big win. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlines some more details of the U.S-EU trade agreement. The parameters fall similar to the Japanese deal, without the banking aspect. The EU will face (and accept) a 15% tariff rate for most exports to the USA including autos, that’s huge, even with some zero-for-zero tariff sectors outlined. The primary motivating factor was to avoid the 35% tariff rate scheduled for August 1st and provide the EU corporations with certainty in their tariff rate as applied by the USA (15%). WATCH:This is almost full acquiescence to...

Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen are meeting at the US president’s golf course in Scotland to discuss the prospect of a trade deal. The summit with the president of the EU commission could mark a breakthrough in trade negotiations, ending months of uncertainty. Talks between the two leaders are now underway as part of the president’s five-day trip to Scotland, which will also see him meet with Sir Keir Starmer. On Friday, Mr Trump said there was around a “50/50” likelihood of a deal being reached between the US and the EU. The US president initially threatened 30...

Far-right MEPs heckled EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen while she called them names in Strasbourg on Monday (7 July), in a failed bid to oust her from her post. The level of shouting and jeering during von der Leyen's speech saw EU Parliament president Roberta Metsola intervene three times to call for quiet. The debate was a small moment of triumph for populist MEPs after a Romanian right-winger, Gheorghe Piperea, tabled a motion of censure against the commission on grounds of von der Leyen's allegedly improper SMS-es with US vaccine-maker Pfizer during Covid. The motion, to be voted...

Summary EU seeks mutually beneficial trade deal with Washington U.S. demands unilateral concessions to cut goods trade deficit EU Commission says leaders' call has given new impetus to talksBRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - The European Union may have won a reprieve from U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariffs, but it remains unclear how the bloc will square its push for a mutually beneficial trade deal with Washington's demands for steep concessions. Trump backed away from imposing the levies on EU imports from June 1 after a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, restoring a July...

Donald Trump said Sunday that he had a “very nice call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and he has agreed to delay his threatened 50 percent tariff until July 9 at her request. The EU wants to negotiate, Trump said:That agreement came after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who had told Trump that she "wants to get down to serious negotiations," according to the U.S. president's retelling."I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that," Trump told reporters on Sunday in Morristown, New Jersey, as he...

Vice President J.D. Vance came face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since their Oval Office showdown earlier this year. The two attended Pope Leo XIV's first Sunday mass after being elected the new leader of the Catholic Church – and the first American to ever hold the top post in Vatican City. After the service, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Vance and Zelensky in Rome for talks aimed at advancing the goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 'The leaders discussed their shared goal of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine and provided updates...

No one is going to defend you for free if you are not willing to fight for yourself. About ten years ago, I spoke with a friend from Austria. They were visiting the U.S. and we had the typical "Second Amendment" conversation that we usually have with Europeans. Then we talked about NATO and how Europe has been riding for free, i.e. very low, if any, military spending. I politely pressed them and they admitted that they couldn't afford all that "free stuff" if they had to build their military. And then the lady joked about depending on the U.S....

The European Commission was wrong to refuse to release text messages sent by Ursula von der Leyen to the head of Pfizer during negotiations to secure Covid-19 vaccines, the EU's top court has ruled. The General Court said the commission had not given a plausible explanation as to why the exchanges between its president and Pfizer's Albert Bourla could not be made public when an investigative journalist requested them in 2021. That year, Pfizer signed billions of euros in vaccine contracts with the EU, including a deal for 1.8bn extra doses. The content of the messages between von der Leyen...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is facing global blowback after announcing a dramatic series of tariffs on countries around the world, with U.S. adversaries and allies alike promising crushing responses that could devastate the American economy.Stock markets in the United States, Europe and Asia plunged in the aftermath of President Trump’s announcement, which included a 10% base rate hike on nearly all foreign imports. Still other countries and trading blocs, including China, the European Union, South Korea and Japan, were hit with higher rates.“We’re now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail,” Ursula...

Trump must pull the USA out of NATO now, to stop the probable destruction of civilization!

During what was supposed to be a cordial meeting, followed by a lunch and a joint press conference between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fireworks erupted when Vice President JD Vance urged diplomacy and called Zelenskyy out for “trying to litigate this in front of the American media” and pointed out that he is “going around forcing conscripts to the frontlines because [he] has manpower problems.” After making a veiled threat to the United States, claiming we don’t “feel it” now because we have a “nice ocean” around us but “will feel it in the future,” President Trump inserted himself...

Keir Starmer has hit back at US Vice President JD Vance after he accused the UK of "infringements on free speech". The comment was made during a question and answer session between the politicians and reporters at the Oval Office. Turning bright red, Mr Vance said: "Look, I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the UK, and also some of our European allies, but we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British – of course what the...

Freedom of speech is a virus! And censorship is a vaccine!" Ursula von der Leyen called for “vaccinating” society against uncomfortable information .

Whatever you say I will do. Fidias Panayiotou Member of the European Parliament from Cyprus.

The keynote speaker of the World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual conference in Davos was Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President. She stated the top global risk for the EU is disinformation and misinformation, declaring disinformation destroys trust and limits the ability to “tackle the big global challenges.” In plain English, trust can only be restored by censoring inconvenient facts and evidence. Below is a short clip (1:39) highlighting her disinformation sermon. The top risk in the WEF’s 2024 Global Risk Report is disinformation. If not controlled, societies will be polarized, elections will be disrupted, and there will be mistrust...

At the opening of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for increased cooperation between governments and private businesses to enact tech censorship in the face of “industrial scale disinformation”.Following in the example of WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab’s ‘Global Risk Report’, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen used her address in Davos on Tuesday to highlight the supposed risks of allowing the free flow of information in light of the alleged threat of “disinformation and disinformation”. (snip) Going into the election year, Brussels will have also have more censorship powers...