Nationalism Continues Its Takeover of European Politics

By Jose Nino

According to a Politico list, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage were ranked as the two most important Members of European Parliament (MEP) during the 2014-2019 parliamentary term.

This list of “40 MEPs who mattered” ranks MEPs who “set the agenda and stood out from their peers, driving trends both within the legislative arena and in the wider EU political debate.”

Politico pointed to Salvini’s “talent for plain speaking and using social media (not to mention the Euroscepticism) that propelled him to his current position as Italy’s de facto leader, where he has been driving the European debate from the right ever since.”

Salvini has taken his political rise to another level by rolling out a political supergroup of populist parties across the EU, notably made up of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), and the French National Rally.

The young populist leader aims to form the biggest coalition in the European Parliament by outing the centrist European People’s Party and “change the rules of Europe.” Salvini and his populist coalition wants to roadblock the progressive, centralized project of the EU and revert to a union of European nations.

Controversial policies like mass migration and the negative social effects they have brought about have spurred the rise of populism throughout Europe.

BLP reported how Salvini’s La Lega (League) party is set to make big gains in the European Parliament.

Politico also placed former UKIP leader current Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in the second spot in this ranking. Farage was described as “the star speechmaker of the 2014-2019 Parliament.”

After the British government announced that it would be participating in the European Parliament elections, Farage declared that his Brexit Party would be participating as well to defeat the establishment and “fight back against the betrayal of democracy.”

An Open Europe poll found that the Brexit Party was in third place behind Labour and Conservatives.

Over the past few weeks BLP has found that populism is a growing movement across the West and is here to stay.

A recent poll shows that immigration is still the #1 issue for Republican voters in the 2020 elections.

Given Trump latest success in securing $1 billion in wall funding and his proposal of sending illegal aliens to sanctuary cities, Trump looks to poised to win a second term.

April 15, 2019 0

UN Migration Pact encourages millions of migrants to come and claim benefits – German AfD leader

By VOICE OF EUROPE 13 November 2018

The co-leader of opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has lashed out at the German government and their stance on the UN Global Compact on Migration. He said his party he urges the government not to sign the document as it isn’t in the interest of the German people.

“If this Global Compact is just a political declaration, which has no consequences for the national parliaments and the law then why are we seeing resistance from everywhere on the rise against it, all of a sudden?” Gauland says. According to the AfD leader, “The interests of the receiving society are left completely unmentioned” and “the document will supersede national law”. “We pledge to fulfil the goals mentioned in the global pact and obligations in accordance to our vision and our guiding principles”, it is so written there. The wording alone “we pledge” appears dozens of times in the paper, Gauland continues. He adds that the document can lead to migrants being encouraged to come and claim benefits as a human right. “For example we pledge, that all migrants notwithstanding their migration status are able to exercise their human rights through a safe entry to standard benefits. Less sensitive people call this migration into the social benefits systems. “So the Federal Government wants to pledge itself to this. But of course non-binding. Non-binding obligations. Dear ladies and gentlemen, wooden steal. Dear ladies and gentlemen on the government bench: How stupid do you actually think we all are and your voters out there?” Later Gauland says the migration pact will undermine sovereignty and lead to a renewed influx of migrants: “The milestone this pact talks about lies in the way of the betrayal of sovereignty of our nation. Millions of people from crisis regions are encouraged to hit the trail. “Left dreamers and globalist elites want to secretly transform our country from a national state into a settlement region. https://youtu.be/5f2hFLp1tmU

November 13, 2018 0

‘Imminent danger’: German media reveals details about Freiburg gang rape suspect

âImminent danger': German media reveals details about Freiburg gang rape suspect

The main suspect in the gang rape of an 18-year-old German in Freiburg was described as posing an “imminent danger” and should have been arrested as soon as possible, local media claims, citing an arrest warrant.

A Syrian man, identified as a 21-year-old Majd H., is the prime suspect behind the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman in the western German city of Freiburg. He was not only previously known to police but had an arrest warrant issued against him on October 10, law enforcement said recently.

German immigration policy under fire after gang-rape of young woman in Freiburg

According to the latest revelations by German daily Bild, the details of the warrant are even more chilling. There was “an imminent danger”that he would commit other serious crimes, the media outlet writes, citing the document. The dangers included sexual coercion and grave bodily harm.

The warrant recommended arresting him immediately for the sake of public safety. However, it wasn’t processed until October 21, a week after the gang rape in Freiburg which provoked widespread public outrage.

Justifying their inaction during the Tuesday press conference, police cited some “investigative tactics” that complicated the arrest of Majd H. However, as the public demanded answers, the investigators admitted that the offender’s whereabouts had to be established first, as they were unknown at the time the warrant was issued.

Last week, eight men were arrested in connection with the rape of an 18-year-old woman. Police said that seven of the suspects were Syrian men aged 19 to 29, and one was a German native aged 25.

The crime which shook the nation took place in mid-October, after the teen met a Syrian asylum seeker at a nightclub in Freiburg. The man is thought to have added some kind of “knockout substance” into the victim’s drink.

The pair left the club together and at some point the man dragged the woman into the nearby bushes and raped her, according to prosecutors. The perpetrator returned to the club to “call his friends” who then committed the gang rape.

The shocking incident has once again stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany, which has accepted over a million asylum seekers since the 2015 refugee crisis. Shortly after news of the rape broke, up to 500 protesters took to the streets of Freiburg over the crime. The demonstration, organized by the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party drew about 1,500 counter-protesters.

It’s not the first such incident in the western German city. In 2016, Freiburg was stunned by the death of Maria Ladenburger, a 19-year-old medical student who was raped and drowned by an Afghan asylum seeker.

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November 1, 2018 0

Merkel’s party suffers losses in Hesse elections as right-wing AfD enters parliament – exit polls

Merkel's party suffers losses in Hesse elections as right-wing AfD enters parliament - exit polls

The Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has gained seats in Hesse and now holds parliamentary seats in every single German state, according to exit polls. Meanwhile, Merkel’s CDU has seen party support plummet.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered an electoral shock, winning only 28 percent. The results were quite a disappointment for the CDU candidate and Ministers-President of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, a Merkel man who has stuck with her through thick and thin.

The CDU result marks a huge drop from the 38.3 percent won by the party during Hesse’s last election in 2013.

“We are in pain because of the losses but we also learnt that it is worth it to fight,” Volker Bouffier, the incumbent CDU state premier in Hesse and a Merkel ally, told supporters.

The AfD, meanwhile, gained 12 percent of the votes in Hesse, a state that is home to six million people and the German capital of finance, Frankfurt am Main.

The party’s parliamentary leader, Alice Weidel, took to Twitter to celebrate its success.

“We are the People’s Party!” she wrote, noting that the AfD is now “firmly anchored” in the German parliament and is “here to stay.”

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The nosedive in support for Merkel’s party in Hesse, known as Hessen in Germany, was predicted by polls ahead of the crucial election. Back in 2013, the CDU had to make a coalition with the Alliance 90/The Greens after the election resulted in no clear winner. It’s not clear if the CDU will now again unite with the Greens to form a government.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), which went toe-to-toe with the CDU for decades, secured 20 percent.

“This is a bad result for us, I can’t put it any differently,” SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil told broadcaster ZDF.

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The Greens placed third, just barely trailing behind the Social Democrats with 19.5 percent of the votes.

Germany’s political landscape has been visibly crumbling in recent weeks. Earlier in October, Merkel’s ruling coalition was shaken after the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the sister party of the CDU – gained 37.3 percent in Germany’s largest and second-most populous state of Bavaria. It represented the worst election result since 1950, and a loss of its absolute majority for only the second time since 1962. CSU General Secretary Markus Blume called it a “bitter day” for the party.

With the emergence of a fresh crisis, Merkel may face difficulties when she stands for re-election as the CDU chair at the party’s conference in December this year.

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October 28, 2018 0