Europe
February 14, 2025 — Steven Hayward
Appearing at the annual Munich Security Conference today, Vice President J.D. Vance torched Europe in a manner they’ve never heard before. I kept seeing squibs from the speech on social media this morning, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Some excerpts: The threat that I worry the most about vis a vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about
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January 18, 2025 — Steven Hayward
For a long time I have been speculating that the time will come when Europe faces a choice—it will need to expel large numbers of culturally incompatible immigrants, or face the extinction of their national identities. It is easy to make the case that Europe will choose, by default, the second option. But perhaps the turn is coming, from the most unexpected place. From Reuters: Sweden seeks to change constitution
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January 4, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Elon Musk ignited a firestorm of controversy in Germany by penning a column in Die Welt in which he supported the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the election scheduled for next month. AfD is a “far right” European party, which means that it doubts the wisdom of mass third-world immigration. Given their experience in recent years, most Germans share that skepticism; hence the fear in establishment circles that AfD
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December 15, 2024 — John Hinderaker
We have been fans of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from the beginning. Now, even the liberals are starting to catch on. The London Times calls Meloni the “new Queen of Europe”: [Home Secretary Yvette] Cooper’s presence will cement the growing view in diplomatic circles that Meloni has become one of the key figures in European politics and an influential voice on the right throughout the West. *** When Meloni
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November 28, 2024 — John Hinderaker
In 2019, Britain’s Tories won a landslide victory. Just five years later, they were voted out of office. The Conservatives failed to deliver on immigration, and Boris Johnson went “green.” With more or less leftist positions on those two issues, what reason was there to vote Tory? None, most people concluded. Now the “green” train is engaged in a slow-motion wreck. Electric vehicle mandates are part of the problem. The
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November 19, 2024 — John Hinderaker
France, like a number of other Western European countries, is governed by a coalition of establishmentarians who are appalled at the popularity of the “far right,” a term that has no significance other than to denote skepticism of mass third-world immigration. For obvious reasons, that skepticism is ever more widely shared, on account of experience, and “far right” parties therefore pose an increasing danger to the European status quo. France
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November 16, 2024 — John Hinderaker
I was assured that foreigners hate Donald Trump, that his election would weaken America and cause us to lose standing in the world, that he is likely in the pocket of Putin and is more or less a traitor. But the Telegraph sees it differently: “Trump’s appointments have electrified the West.” Donald Trump’s impending arrival at the White House is not only having a seismic impact on American politics. It
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November 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Jewish Insider reports on the events in Amsterdam last night in “Israeli soccer fans attacked by assailants in Amsterdam.” The Times of Israel has its own story here. The Jerusalem Post reports that previously missing Israelis have now been accounted for and provides relevant background based on a “highly classified report from Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism, written in May 2024.” These do not appear to be
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September 22, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Electric vehicles have been the next big thing for a long time. In 1901, the Los Angeles Times wrote that EVs “will quickly and easily take precedence over all other” vehicles. In 1911, the New York Times described EVs as the “ideal solution.” In 1915, the Washington Post predicted that “prices on electric cars will continue to drop until they are within reach of the average family.” Electric vehicles, like
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July 12, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Or, to be more specific, their left isn’t as crazy as our left. One instance among many is the United Kingdom’s relatively sane reaction to the “trans” hysteria that gripped the world’s leftists a few years ago. In America, “trans” ideology remains rampant, but in Europe it has been reined in. Thus, for instance, Britain has shut down its notorious Tavistock “child gender identity clinic.” In the last days of
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July 2, 2024 — John Hinderaker
I wrote here about the first round of French elections, in which the “far right” National Rally scored an impressive plurality of votes for the National Assembly. But round two is coming up, and the left-wing and the relatively centrist (Macron) parties are combining to try to stop the “far right” from winning an outright majority in the National Assembly: At least 200 candidates have stood down days before France’s
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June 21, 2024 — John Hinderaker
The Euro 2024 soccer tournament is under way in Dusseldorf, and in the U.K. there has been less attention to the games than hand-wringing over the likelihood of English fans singing “Ten German Bombers.” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denounced the song as “offensive” and urged Brits not to sing it, as has England’s team manager. A German police chief has warned British fans, “Don’t be dicks.” Only a few
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June 9, 2024 — John Hinderaker
As Steve noted earlier, today’s elections to the European Parliament were a disaster for the Left and a triumph for the Right (the “far right” in European parlance). And as Steve said, the Greens were hardest hit. The consequences could be far-reaching. This article in the Telegraph preceded but predicted the conservative victory. It focuses on the consequences for Europe’s climate policies: “Rise of the Right threatens EU net zero
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May 14, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Along with Victor Davis Hanson and Andrew Roberts, Dominic Green is one of my favorite living historians. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Dominic investigated the evidence bearing on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s marriage to her brother in the June 2019 Spectator column “Ilhan Omar lawyer: Two marriages hard to explain” (the column is attributed to the Spectator’s pseudonymous Cockburn). The Daily Mail republished Dominic’s column under the headline
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May 11, 2024 — John Hinderaker
The giant Eurovision pop music competition came to a climax with the finals this evening in Malmo, Sweden. Pretty much all of the news surrounding the event related to Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, all of 20 years old, was booed during rehearsals. Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators turned out Thursday for the semifinal rounds, and again tonight during the final round of competition: Thousands of people protested in Malmo
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May 10, 2024 — John Hinderaker
I wrote here about how Israel’s presence has roiled Eurovision, the big European pop music competition. Each country is represented by an artist, either an individual or a group. After two semifinals, the lineup for the final evening is now set. Somewhat remarkably, the Israeli contestant passed through the semifinal round and will compete in the finals. The result is predictable; the London Times reports: “Thousands protest over Gaza as
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May 1, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Eurovision is the annual European (and beyond) popular music contest that has become a giant cultural event. Each country is represented by a single singer or group, and the competition is intense. This year’s contest will begin on Tuesday in Malmo, Sweden. Israel has won the competition four times, most recently in 2018. This year it is represented by a 20-year-old woman named Eden Golan. But the contest will not
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