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European Union Tag

The European Union expects the United Kingdom to pay a £39 billion ($48 billion) 'divorce bill' even in the case of a no-deal Brexit. The refusal to pay the amount could hurt the UK's prospects of entering into a trade agreement with the remaining 27 member state of the bloc. The UK is set to leave the EU on October 31.

In an ongoing war of words, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told European Council President Donald Tusk that he will go down in history as 'Mr No-Deal' if the European Union continues with its refusal to change the withdrawal agreement. The remark came after the European Council President, who head the EU's executive body, said that Prime Minister Johnson should accept the withdrawal agreement handed by Brussels to his predecessor Theresa May as he "will not like to go down in history as 'Mr No Deal'."

Ahead of his European trip, President Donald Trump has supported British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he tries to negotiate a withdrawal agreement with the European Union. "That’s a very tough bargain they are driving, the European Union. We are going to see if we can work something out," President Trump said on Wednesday. The U.S. President will be in France this weekend to attend the annual Group of Seven (G-7) summit.

Italy's government has collapsed as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned after Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini tabled a no-confidence vote. Conte unloaded on Salvini in a speech to the Senate, accusing him of putting his individual wants ahead of the country. Salvini has demanded snap elections since opinion polls have shown that his Northern League as the most popular party in Italy.

President Donald Trump is considering tariffs on French wines in response to the digital tax imposed by Paris that disproportionately targets U.S. tech companies. Earlier this month, the French Senate approved a 3 percent tax on sales generated from digital services in France by companies with more than 25 million euros in French revenue and 750 million euros worldwide.

The European Union is taking Hungary to court over the country's immigration law, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported. The legal action by Brussels seeks to repeal a law passed last year by Hungary's parliament aimed at securing the country's borders and combating illegal trafficking of migrants. The case will he heard by the top EU court, the European Court of Justice.

Newly-appointed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take his country out of the European Union within the next 99 days. "We will come out on 31 October, no ifs and no buts," Boris Johnson said in his first public speech as prime minister on Wednesday. "The British people are tired of waiting. The time has come to act."

Boris Johnson beat Jeremy Hunt today to win the Tory leadership in the United Kingdom, which means he will replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May. Johnson received 92,513 votes while Hunt only secured 46,656.

As Iran breaches the limit on its enriched uranium stockpile set under the 2015 nuclear deal, European powers scramble to appease the regime. The European Union has started processing payments to Iran under a new trading mechanism, German media reports confirmed. While French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to rush to Tehran in an attempt to coax the regime into the Obama-era deal.

The British intelligence agency MI5 foiled a significant bomb plot linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah terror outfit, London-based Daily Telegraph disclosed. The British intelligence service and the Metropolitan Police uncovered a secret bomb factory in North West London in the autumn of 2015. They recovered thousands of packets containing ammonium nitrate, an explosive ingredient often used in homemade bombs.

After celebrating the win of the "Australia First" Liberal Party, and cheering on the milkshake-covered Brexit candidates in Great Britain, it pleases me greatly to report that anti-EU parties made significant gains in Sunday’s European election. After processing the results, I have several essential takeaways. Perhaps the most significant that the win for the anti-EU parties is a hard loss for the centrists who want to run the entire world from Brussels.

Anti-EU parties have made big gains in the Sunday's European Election, securing outright victory in France, the United Kingdom and Italy. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Matteo Salvini's League party declared victory in their respective countries.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May announced through tears this morning that she will leave her post on June 7 after a Brexit mess that has lasted for three years. From The London Times:
“It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” she said. “I believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high.

In a devastating blow to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, Germany's parliament has passed a resolution condemning BDS as antisemitic. The resolution titled "Stand Resolutely Against the BDS Movement: Combat Antisemitism" calls for cutting state funding to organizations supporting anti-Israel boycott. The motion is first of its kind adopted by any European country.

France has been taken to the EU human rights court for refusing entry to children of Islamic State jihadists. The grandparents of two children who, along with their Islamist mother, are currently being held in detention by Syria's Kurdish fighters have filed a lawsuit in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to overturn the French decision.

Europe's open-doors immigration policy will lead to a European "Islamic caliphate," Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has warned voters ahead of the upcoming European Union election. "For our children, to leave behind an Islamic caliphate with sharia law in our cities is not something I want to do and I’m going to do everything in my power to avert this sad ending for Europe," he said during a visit to Hungary this week.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has invited Steve Bannon to speak at the country's parliament next month, the Hamburg-based news weekly Der Spiegel disclosed. "The AfD is planning a meeting for right-wing bloggers and writers at the Bundestag," the magazine reported. "The party has invited U.S. President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon."