Europe
April 12, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Paul wrote last night about an apparent terrorist attack on a bus that was driving the Borussia Dortmund soccer team to a quarterfinal European Champions League soccer match against Monaco. Three pipe bombs were placed along the bus’s route, loaded with projectiles to kill and maim as many people as possible. The bombs went off, but miraculously no one was killed, and only one Dortmund player was injured. German authorities
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April 8, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Great Britain has controlled Gibraltar since 1713, but Spain wants it back. Seizing on Brexit as an excuse, the Spanish government has started exerting pressure on the Rock. For example, it is imposing Schwengen controls at the border, where 10,000 Spaniards commute every day: But Gibraltar has no intention of giving in. Gibraltar has a new mayor; the Gibraltar Chronicle reports: New mayor Kaiane Lopez broke records yesterday as both
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February 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
European leaders (at least those from “old Europe”) have declined to take the Trump administration’s anti-Russia, pro-NATO statements seriously, but this is not the case in Russia. The Washington Post reports that “in Moscow, euphoria over Trump evaporates” as “Russian politicians, journalists and others express dismay” that “the White House puts daylight between itself and the Kremlin.” (These are the headlines of the Post’s story in the print edition) The
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February 20, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, in discussing Mike Pence’s speech in Munich, I argued that the animosity towards President Trump expressed by some of our European allies has little or nothing to do with Trump’s statements about Russia and NATO. Rather, the animosity stems from the fact that Trump isn’t a leftist and the view that he is a vulgarian. American left-wing elites despise Trump. Why expect European left-wing elites not to? I forgot,
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February 19, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
As I discussed yesterday, President Trump sent his “A Team” to Europe to demonstrate America’s commitment to NATO. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Vice President Mike Pence all traveled to a major conference in Munich for that purpose. Kelly, Mattis, and Pence said the right things. Pence, who told the conference he was sending a message of reassurance directly from President Trump, stated that the
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February 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump sent his “A Team” to Europe to demonstrate America’s commitment to NATO. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Vice President Mike Pence all traveled to a major conference in Munich for that purpose. However, key European officials, along with honorary European John McCain, used the occasion to vent over Trump. Apparently, the Europeans would rather grandstand to their domestic audiences and demonstrate their moral
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February 11, 2017 — John Hinderaker
John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, has proposed to bar President Trump from speaking to Parliament when he visits the U.K., on account of his supposed “racism and sexism.” That is an extreme case, but it is fair to say that Trump is deeply unpopular with Europe’s elites. Of course, if those elites were a little more perceptive, they might realize that 1) the critical threats they face
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January 25, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Visiting Amsterdam in 2013, we found the native Dutch to be uniformly friendly and good-humored. I wrote about our visit to Amsterdam in the Power Line posts “Nazi chess,” “The Anne Frank Museum,” and “Impressions.” The Dutch reminded me of Minnesotans. We wanted to blend in, but we were routinely greeted in English. I asked, how did you know I’m American? They just smiled. We didn’t cover a large cross
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January 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The French Socialist party held its primary yesterday in the race to succeed Francois Hollande as the party’s standard bearer. Hollande’s presidency has been such a disaster that he declined to stand for re-election. Former education minister Benoit Hamon came in first with around 36 percent of the vote. He will face former prime minister Manuel Valls, who captured around 31 percent of the vote. Hamon is a left-winger. He
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January 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Donald Trump has been criticized for declaring NATO obsolete. In my view, the truth of Trump’s statement depends on what he meant by “obsolete.” If Trump meant that NATO is no longer useful, I think he is wrong. If Trump meant, as he seemed to, that NATO needs to be revised and restructured, I think he is right. I’m not the only one. Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post reports
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January 17, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that European leaders are “shocked” by statements Donald Trump has made about the EU and NATO. According to the Post, these leaders fear a “transatlantic split.” What should we make of this story from an American perspective? I think we need to analyze the EU and NATO separately. Regarding the EU, Post reporter Michael Birnbaum points to a statement by Trump that he expects the EU
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December 20, 2016 — John Hinderaker
The Wall Street Journal has a good update on what we know about yesterday’s terrorist truck attack in Berlin: Nearly 24 hours after Germany’s deadliest terror attack in decades, police said they had been holding the wrong man as their only suspect, reviving fears of more violence and restarting the hunt for at least one perpetrator at large. *** The police said a lack of forensic links to the crime
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December 10, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
This week, a court in the Netherlands found Geert Wilders, leader of Holland’s Party for Freedom, guilty of inciting discrimination and insulting a group after a trial over statements he made about Moroccans. At a rally, Wilders asked his audience: “Do you want more or less Moroccans in this city and in the Netherlands?” The audience repeatedly chanted “less.” The Netherlands has thus criminalized an instance of free speech regarding
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November 6, 2016 — John Hinderaker
It is widely understood that the Left wants to impose censorship on the rest of us, and where it can, it will. The experience of conservative speakers on university campuses is the most obvious proof. But the truth, I think, is worse: it isn’t just censorship. The Left wants to bully disagreement out of existence. Hence the astonishingly long list of acts of political violence and low-level terrorism that have
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October 27, 2016 — John Hinderaker
It seems to be a closely guarded secret, but preparations for war are going on in Europe. A Russian fleet that includes that country’s only aircraft carrier made a point of sailing through the English Channel and along the European coast en route to Syria. Nuclear-capable Russian ships are making a demonstration in the Baltic Sea, and Russian troops, reportedly equipped with nuclear weapons, have moved near Russia’s borders with
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August 18, 2016 — John Hinderaker
This is the kind of news item that has Angela Merkel in political trouble: According to mayor Bernd Pohlers of the eastern town of Saxony Waldenburg, the asylum seekers refused to accept the work that was offered to them after they arrived in the country. The local council spent £600 arranging for the men to have uniforms but were stunned when they were told they would not complete it because
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July 21, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
During an interview with the New York Times yesterday, Donald Trump made two controversial statements about foreign policy. First, in response to the question whether he would come to the aid of NATO allies in the Baltic, Trump said: “If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes.” Second, Trump said he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies not to conduct purges of their political adversaries
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