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European Union Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 16, 2016 11 Comments
British Member of Parliament (MP) Jo Cox died after a middle aged man shot her on the street in Birstall, located near Leeds. The police arrested Thomas Mair, 52. Some eyewitnesses said he yelled "Britain first!" when he shot her, but others dispute the claim. Some in Britain have pushed the country to leave the European Union. Mair attacked Cox after she held her weekly office hours with constituents:
"The gun went off twice and then she fell between two cars and I came and saw her bleeding on the floor," shop owner Hichem Ben Abdallah told ITV News. Clarke Rothwell told the BBC that the suspect, who was wearing a baseball hat, lunged at Cox with a knife after he opened fire. "People were screaming and running from the area," Rothwell added.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 02, 2016 18 Comments
According to UK Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt, Britain must join a European Union Army under Brussels’s direct command if the country stays within the EU. The ominous revelation comes as British voters are heading towards a historic ‘in-out’ referendum on June 23. What could only be described as cynical manoeuvring, EU bosses intends to table the plan a day after the British referendum -- concealing the totalitarian nature of the ‘European Project’ from the British voters. Mordaunt made it clear that if her country were to stay in the EU as a result of a "remain vote", her government would be “powerless” to stop the formation of an EU Army. Furthermore, UK would be “bound to support” and bankroll such an Army under the provisions of existing Lisbon treaty. “As usual with the EU, the plan for this army would see Britain paying highest price and but getting a raw deal. They've done that with our budget, I'm not going to let that happen to our armed forces,” Minister Mordaunt told the UK voters. The preparations for new pan-European Army outside the framework of NATO are long under way. Germany and The Netherlands have reportedly merged their army and naval assets to form a core fighting force that would serve as the basis for a new EU Army. NATO officials had recently accused France of neglecting its commitment to NATO-alliance by diverting resources to build an EU Army.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 27, 2016 2 Comments
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) continues to take advantage of the migrant issue by blending their fighters and shipping them through Europe. Smuggler Abu Walid told CNN that ISIS has contacted people in his business in Libya in the past two months, offering up to $40,000 for 25 people. Libyan officials told the new outlet they have found ISIS members attempting to sneak into Europe disguised as migrants seeking a better life:
A senior Libyan military intelligence official in Misrata, Ismail Shukri, said that ISIS militants sought to disguise themselves by traveling with "their families, without weapons, as normal illegal immigrants." "They will wear American dress and have English language papers so they cause no suspicion."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 26, 2016 1 Comment
Portuguese intelligence officers have decided to search for other moles after they discovered one of their own passed NATO secrets to Russia. Italian police arrested Frederico Carvalhão, a senior officer in Portugal's SIS intelligence service, along with an alleged Russian SVR intelligence agent. However, SIS believe others helped Carvalhão extract confidential and sensitive information. The Telegraph reports:
Augusto Santos Silva, the Portuguese foreign minister, confirmed on Wednesday that there was “an ongoing judicial investigation” into the case. The focus is believed to be on discovering who helped Mr Carvalhão extract top-secret documents from Ameixoeira Fort, the SIS headquarters in Lisbon. The use of USB sticks is prohibited inside Ameixoeira, access to all printed documents is registered and those classified as secret have an invisible watermark to allow for the detection of anyone who has removed them. Yet Mr Carvalhão was allegedly caught while handing over six "top secret" documents covering Nato defence systems, the communication infrastructure between member countries and military bases.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 23, 2016 5 Comments
Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Green Party, has become Austria's new head of state. He barely beat Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer. The Interior Ministry counted over 700,000 ballots, almost 12% of the country's registered voters, to determine the winner. Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka announced the results:
Van der Bellen reached 50.3 percent, 49.7 Hofer . In absolute terms, the scarcity of the result is visible: 2,254.484 votes could gather Van der Bellen, Hofer 2,223.458. The difference amounts to just 31,026 votes. The turnout was 72.7 percent, significantly higher than the first ballot reached 68.5 percent.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 29, 2016 23 Comments
I LOVE cheese. ALL the cheese. Me, basically: giphy So I was thrilled to learn America has a Cheese Mountain. Well, kind of.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 28, 2016 4 Comments
Austria is also in the midst of a presidential election and the subject of the migrant crisis is playing a significant role. The nation's conservative party is doing very well. BBC News reports:
Austria election: Far-right tops first round of presidential vote Austria's far-right Freedom Party candidate has come top in the first round of presidential elections, preliminary results show. Norbert Hofer has about 36% of the votes for the mostly ceremonial role - not enough to avoid a run-off in May. He is likely to face Alexander Van der Bellen, an independent contender backed by the Greens, who is polling 20%. For the first time since World War Two, the candidates from Austria's two main parties did not make it to the run-off.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 11, 2016 2 Comments
Last week, Kemberlee covered the Panama Papers scandal that is rocking much of the world, and there certainly has been a lot of buzz about the fact that few Americans, maybe only one, appear to have taken part in the tax evasion scheme run out of Panama.  In the wake of the revelations, Iceland's Prime Minister has resigned, and there are calls for David Cameron to do the same. The Guardian reports:
After a torrid week, which ended with calls from MPs for his resignation, Cameron aimed to move the focus to his party’s record as he launched the Conservative campaign for next month’s local elections. . . . . The prime minister was accused of misleading the public after he issued several statements before finally admitting he had benefited from his late father’s offshore investment fund Blairmore. The details of the fund were contained in documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 03, 2016 7 Comments
In the wake of the EU deal to return refugees to Turkey en masse, Greece is preparing for further violence and protests. The Guardian reports:
The Greek government is bracing itself for violence ahead of the European Union implementing a landmark deal that, from Monday, will see Syrian refugees and migrants being deported back to Turkey en masse. Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in Athens over the practicality of enforcing an agreement already marred by growing concerns over its legality. Islands have become flashpoints, with as many as 800 people breaking out of a detention centre on Chios on Friday.
The Greek government is expecting more violent protests and riots as the implementation begins tomorrow.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 31, 2016 6 Comments
British intelligence agency MI5 is reportedly tracking up to 25 ISIS terror plots threatening to bring Brussels-style devastation on to British streets. Security forces have increased surveillance on as many as 50 Islamists believed to be planning eminent terror attacks in the country. Despite ramped up counter-terrorism measures, senior security officials fear that there might be other undetected sleeper cells in the country capable of carrying out terror attacks without prior warning. In a related development, British government has raised concerns over a potential attack on country's nuclear power plants. Officials warned that ISIS terrorists operating on British soil could try to get hold of nuclear material or carry out cyber-attacks on nuclear reactors.

Posted by Miriam Elman on March 10, 2016 7 Comments
Most people around the world firmly hold to the view that Israel’s residential housing communities built in Judea and Samaria/the West Bank are “illegal”. For years, this fictitious claim has fed a wild campaign of incitement and ‘lawfare’ against Israel, based on the myth that Jews have no legal right to live or make their homes on Palestinian-claimed lands in the West Bank. But the truth is that Israel isn’t an unlawful occupying power—certainly not according to any binding international laws. Now, Northwestern University Professor of Law Eugene Kontorovich, a leading expert in the fields of constitutional law, international law, and the intersection of law and economics, is on a speaking tour of universities and colleges to explain why. Eugene Kontorovich, headshot Below I summarize the legal case for Israel’s West Bank settlements according to Kontorovich. A 50 minute video of his remarks is also embedded.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 03, 2016 9 Comments
In the midst of the political circus, I missed this important testimony by the U.S.Commander of NATO about how ISIS has thoroughly infiltrated refugees, and how Russia is using the refugee crisis to undermine Europe. The Guardian reports:
Refugees from the Middle East and north Africa are “masking the movement” of terrorists and criminals, Nato’s top commander told Congress on Tuesday, despite the protests of human rights groups who say that refugees overwhelmingly have no ulterior motive but escape. In testimony to the Senate armed services committee, US general Philip Breedlove said that the Islamic State terror group is “spreading like a cancer” among refugees. The group’s members are “taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own”, he added. Breedlove also blamed Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria, in support of autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad, for having “wildly exacerbated the problem”.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 03, 2016 2 Comments
Amid renewed tensions between Iran and the Sunni Arab States, the six member Gulf Cooperation Council has declared Iranian-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organisation. Since 1980s, Iran has been exercising control over Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist military outfit. Tehran-funded Hezbollah does not only controls Lebanon but also carries out terrorist operations on behalf of its Iranian masters across the globe. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are currently fighting alongside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on behalf of Assad Regime in the Syrian civil war. The power vacuum created by President Obama’s hasty retreat from the Middle East has been rapidly filled by Iran and its proxies. Iranian expansion has now created an unbroken corridor of control extending from the Gulf of Persia to the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon. Flushed with fresh cash, thanks to Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal that unlocked $100 billion in frozen funds, Iranian Regime is now capable of bankrolling its proxies throughout the Arab World.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 01, 2016 7 Comments
According to recent news reports, the Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria seems to have intensified its efforts to build a “dirty” bomb. The reports coming from Iraq indicate that the terrorist group might already be in the possession of required radioactive material. The material was reportedly stolen from an oil facility in southern Iraq and was part a monitoring system used to detect structural flaws in oil and gas pipelines. Reuters news agency writes:
Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material whose theft last year has raised fears among Iraqi officials that it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State. (...) The [UN nuclear watchdog] IAEA said the material is classed as a Category 2 radioactive source, meaning that if not managed properly it could cause permanent injury to a person in close proximity to it for minutes or hours, and could be fatal to someone exposed for a period of hours to days.
Radioactive material is often part of diagnostic tools used in medical treatments and industrial monitoring around the world. The same material however can be used by terrorists to make a “dirty” bomb capable of contaminating several city blocks, causing wide-scale fatal radiation sickness and financial losses worth billions.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 28, 2016 3 Comments
Apparently, some Brits, too, are fed up with the anti-Semitism permeating the halls of power in England. Last week, I wrote about recent instances of anti-Semitism on Britain's campuses and how it reflects attitudes among the political elite.  I didn't even mention Respect Party leader George Galloway because he is no longer a member of Parliament.  Galloway was MP from Bradford West from 2012-2015 until losing to the Labor candidate last year. But Galloway is back in the news.  He has joined with Nigel Farage and the UK Independence Party ("UKIP") in championing the upcoming referendum to withdraw from the European Union.  Shortened to "Brexit," the vote is set for June 23. Prof. Jacobson discussed Galloway's anti-Israel derangement last May.  He refuses even to speak with an Israeli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ad-Mk4R7iQ

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 25, 2016 12 Comments
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister, threw another spanner in the EU’s push to settle migrants across the member states. Prime Minister Orban announced to hold a referendum on whether Hungary should be forced to take in more migrants, dealing another blow to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to ease pressure off German in the wake of unchecked mass migration. In September 2015, Prime Minister Orban became the first European leader to seriously challenge Brussel’s open border policy when he ordered to build a fence along Hungary’s border with Serbia to stop the migrant influx. Many European leaders and mainstream media slammed Hungary for taking--what they called-- “egoist” measures. At that time, Martin Schulz, German politician and President of the EU Parliament, called the step taken by Hungarian government “irrational” and driven by “national egoism.” Since then other EU members such as Austria, Macedonian and Slovenian have started working on their border fences.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 23, 2016 4 Comments
As Britain heads for the June referendum, the question of country's membership in the European Union is pitting the political establishment and the mainstream media against a rising tide of public sentiment against the Brussels, deepened by recent Eurozone debt crisis and EU’s inability to regulate mass migration. The present policy paralysis within the EU on migrant crisis has once again revealed the vulnerabilities of the European project -- geared towards expansionism and bureaucratic centralization. Conservative EU parliamentarian and prominent ‘Eurosceptic’, Daniel Hannan said, “the alternative to remaining in a structurally unsafe building is, of course, walking out.” The call for referendum, announced last week, has also exposed the rifts within Prime Minister David Cameron’s ruling Conservative Party, with six cabinet ministers and other leading conservatives coming out in support of Britain’s exit from the European Union, Brexit. However, the biggest blow to Prime Minister Cameron’s pro-EU camp came from London Mayor Boris Johnson’s surprise announcement to back the Brexit campaign.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 20, 2016 7 Comments
In November, Vijeta wrote about David Cameron's warning to the EU: reform or risk "Brexit" (British exit from EU).  Cameron's demands were as follows:
The New York Times reports: After days of conflicting signals about his attitude toward the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday formally outlined his approach to negotiations with other member countries ahead of a crucial referendum that will determine whether Britain stays in the 28-nation bloc. His demands included a safeguard to prevent countries that use the euro from discriminating economically against Britain, which has retained the pound; a stronger role for national parliaments in European Union decision-making; and an end to Britain’s legal commitment, as a signatory to European Union treaties, to pursue “ever closer union,” which conservatives see as a threat to national sovereignty.
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