The European Commission’s unelected president, Ursula von der Leyen, has come up with a nifty new idea in the European Union’s quest to snuff out democracy on the continent: The “European Democracy Shield.”
European Union
The EU ‘Elites’- Corruption and Foreign Influence Operations
“The European Union is one of the least corrupt regions in the world,” boasts the European Commission on its website.
Oh really? Let us take a look at the EU organization itself, which — once again –- is at the center of a new corruption scandal.
Belgian police raided more than 20 locations in Belgium and Portugal in March in an investigation of alleged “active corruption within the European Parliament,” for the benefit of China’s tech giant Huawei, according to Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office. Huawei’s main lobbying office in Brussels was raided, alongside European Parliament offices.
EU Accused of Silence Over Islamist Violence Against Christians
Brussels officials are never lost for words on Gaza or the war in Ukraine. But critics say it is another matter entirely when it comes to the persecution of foreign Christians, especially by Islamists.
Dutch conservative MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen said on Monday that the European Union—as well as other international communities—is “far too silent about jihadist violence against Christians.”
Trump, EU Reach Tariff Deal To Avoid Trade War
President Trump said he reached a trade deal with the European Union late on Sunday, avoiding a trade war with the US’s largest trading partner and marking his biggest deal so far in his attempt to remake the global trading system through higher tariffs for U.S. trading partners.
BREAKING: President Trump lands EU trade deal:
– EU to purchase $750 billion in US and invest $600 billion in US
– EU to purchase a “vast amount” of military equipment
– EU opens up markets to US goods
– 15% reciprocal tariffsMassive!! pic.twitter.com/cheSWDIMSJ
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 27, 2025
h/t DS
Trump: immigration is ‘killing Europe’
President Trump said immigration is “killing Europe” as he arrived in Scotland at the start of a four-day visit.
Speaking to reporters after landing at Prestwick airport on Friday evening, Trump said: “On immigration, you better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore. You got to get your act together.
“You know, last month, we had nobody entering our country. Nobody. Shut it down.”
“On immigration, you better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore…Last month we had nobody enter our country, we shut it down.”
President Trump’s advice to Europe, particularly the UK upon arriving in Scotland.
I agree. pic.twitter.com/wtfacFRokc
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) July 25, 2025
Trump imposes 30 per cent tariffs on EU and Mexico
Donald Trump has said he will impose 30 per cent tariffs on the European Union and Mexico from next month.
The US president said both levies would take effect on August 1 as he announced the move on letters posted to his Truth Social account.
In his letter to the European Union, Mr Trump said that the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
EU Climate Goals: Pure Placebo Politics
Europe’s economy is buckling under the pressure of climate regulation. Now the European Commission has signaled it may gradually revise its targets.
The industrial math in Germany is unforgiving. Electricity prices for industry are up to 300 percent higher than in the United States. Even France, with its nuclear-backed energy mix, faces double the industrial electricity costs compared to American competitors.
The economic pain is reflected in the data. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the construction sector in the eurozone — an early indicator of economic sentiment — fell to 45.6 in May. The PMI for manufacturing dropped to 49.5 in June. Any figure below 50 signals contraction.
Climate change deindustrialization will bankrupt Europe — and not actually impact climate change. – Small wonder Carney wants closer ties to the EU.
Putin knows we are spreadsheet warriors and Europe is in no position to fight
The European Union has experienced quite a few shocks over the past two decades. The most significant one was not Covid, or Brexit, or the Ukraine war. It was the sovereign debt crisis. The fairytale story is that Mario Draghi single-handedly ended the crisis when he told the world that he would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro. He was the president of the European Central Bank when he announced a backstop. It is a convenient explanation because it assumes that the crisis is over.
I am going to put my head on the block to predict that this crisis could come back sooner than we think. Last time, it was the southern Europeans who triggered it. This time, it is the northern Europeans with their relentless push for an increase in defence spending to 5% of GDP.
Canada and E.U. Pull Together as America Pushes Them Away
Canada signed a defense partnership with the European Union on Monday, the latest indication that two of America’s closest allies are deepening their military cooperation as President Trump pulls away and promises to reduce the United States’ role in international security.
Mr. Trump has been pushing for other countries in NATO — which includes Canada and most European Union nations — to invest far more in their militaries, accusing them of relying too much on the United States.
He has called into question America’s commitment to defending some NATO members and has launched a trade war against some of the closest traditional allies of the United States.
Trump is smart to ditch these parasites.
The EU consists of corrupt, preening authoritarians bleating about democratic ideals while lining their pockets.
Carney’s kind of people.
Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament
Qatargate, one year on: EU corruption scandal still unsolved
Canada won’t become the 51st US state – but could it join the EU?
Joachim Streit has never stepped foot in Canada. But that hasn’t stopped the German politician from launching a tenacious, one-man campaign that he readily describes as “aspirational”: to have the North American country join the EU.
“We have to strengthen the European Union,” said Streit, who last year was elected as a member of the European parliament. “And I think Canada – as its prime minister says – is the most European country outside of Europe.”
Streit had long imagined Canada as a sort of paradise, home to dense forests that course with wide, rushing rivers. But after Donald Trump returned to power, launching much of the world into a trade war and turning his back on America’s traditional allies, Streit began to cast the northern country in a new light.
Oh yea, let’s hitch our wagon to Communism’s zombie offspring.
EU woke green rules are blocking Europe’s rearmament
By the time the environmental permits are signed off for a new TNT plant in Sweden at the end of this year, Russia will already be producing explosives at a new facility.
Swedish Ballistics (SweBal) is aiming to tap into Europe’s rush to rearm itself by opening what will be the EU’s second factory producing military-grade TNT, used in the production of artillery shells, landmines and grenades.
The firm hopes to produce 4,500 metric tonnes annually by the end of 2027, which will be enough for Europe to produce roughly 450,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition.
Now I understand why Carney wants to hitch Canada’s wagon to the EU. They think like he does.
Postcard From Brussels: My Day in the Capital of Declining Europe
Last week at an event at the European Parliament, an MEP asked me a question that I hear often: “Does JD Vance hate Europe?”
My guess is that he does not hate the Europe of tête de veau in a Rive Gauche brasserie in Paris, of Sunday mass at the Duomo in Milan, of Alpine lakes in Switzerland, or of paintings at the Alte Pinothek in Munich. What he hates is Brussels, or rather, “Brussels”—the symbol of official, bureaucratic Europe, and the dictatorship of managerial liberalism administered from there. He hates the Europe of decrees from the European Commission, of the Digital Services Act circumscribing the access of EU citizens to knowledge and information, and of the EU ruling class refusing to face the overwhelming problem of mass migration, and act to stop it.
‘Tyranny in Disguise’: Will Democracy Survive in Europe?
February 14, 2025. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance delivers remarks in Germany, at the Munich Security Conference. The audience expects him to talk about foreign policy, geopolitics, and threats facing the world.
Instead, he says that the most worrying threat today is “the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.” He adds that European countries and institutions are undermining democracy and freedom of speech — and gives examples.
“A former European commissioner,” Vance states, “went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election.”
Run!
Dear @MarkJCarney, the EU-Canada story is one of friendship, trust and standing side by side.
I look forward to writing its next chapter with deeper cooperation on trade, investment and defence.
See you in Canada for the G7 Summit and welcome you later in June in Brussels ↓ pic.twitter.com/ZFMtEjgcA9
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 17, 2025
h/t Mauser
After Trump’s broad tariffs, Europe reels from the loss of an old ally
ROME — In announcing plans to rebuild post-World War II Europe, then-U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall linked security with economics. Without the United States doing whatever it could to promote “normal economic health in the world,” he said, “there can be no political stability and no assured peace.”
Nearly 80 years later, America’s closest allies in Europe see President Donald Trump’s tariffs as another blow to a fast-fracturing Western alliance that had stood as the most successful peace project of modern times — one whose pillars included shared democratic values, a strategic goal to contain Moscow as well as flourishing flows of trade and investment.
I don’t think anyone expected the Marshall Plan to be a permanent US financial obligation.