Washington has virtually blocked a $500mn arms deal by barring Tel Aviv from selling its old F-16 Barak fighter jets to Croatia unless modifications to its electronics, apparently too good for the Balkan NATO ally, are dismantled.
Croatia has been forced to annul the purchase of the 12 used fighters, after Israel’s Defense Ministry acknowledged having run into “unforeseen problems” with the sale. “Unfortunately, we have not been able to realize the deal because of problems that could not have been expected and are not under the control of the countries,” director-general of the Defense Ministry, Udi Adam, said on Thursday in Zagreb.

The partnership at the center of European integration is unraveling just when Euroskeptic forces are coming together. If French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel cannot start rebuilding the political center, next year's European Parliament election will produce the biggest victory yet for anti-EU populists.

Chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos said the marque “belongs to Britain” and the luxury cars would continue to be built at its plant in Goodwood, regardless of the type of deal struck with the European Union. The announcement comes as the company unveiled record sales. Mr Muller-Otvos roundly rejected the prospect of moving production abroad, saying the idea is a "complete no-go for me".

THERESA May is heading for a trouncing in next week's Withdrawal Agreement vote despite considering a move to cave in to Labour demands on Brexit to win their backing for her maligned deal.

Prosecutors in the Netherlands have opened an investigation to determine whether Christians have violated Dutch law by signing the “Nashville Statement” affirming traditional marriage.

Last week, some 250 Dutch Christian leaders, including the leader of the SGP Christian party, signed the statement after it was translated into Dutch and posted on the internet.

As Breitbart News reported, leading Evangelical Christians published the Nashville Statement in August 2017. The manifesto reaffirmed Christian teaching on God’s creation of human beings as male and female, rejecting attempts to normalize “gender fluidity” based on “autonomous preferences.”

After receiving information from a former jihadist, Italian police have arrested 15 suspects alleged to be part of an organisation that helped smuggle radical Islamic terrorists into the country as illegal migrants and asylum seekers.

The arrests were made in the cities of Palermo, Trapani, Caltanissetta, and Brescia this week with the 15 suspects facing various criminal charges from forming a criminal association for the purposes of illegal immigration and smuggling to terrorism-related charges, newspaper Il Giornale reports.

The European Union has granted 10 million euros to university researchers studying the role of the Islamic holy book in the intellectual and religious development of countries across the continent.

The large sum of cash comes from the European Research Council, a European Union body focused on scientific and technological research with researchers working on the hypothesis that the Qur’an has had a major impact on Europe throughout history, Il Giornale reports.

The aim of the research is said to be to “determine how the sacred text of Allah incorporated into the thought of Christians, medieval and modern, Jews, freethinkers, atheists, and European Muslims.”

The left-wing RED movement – founded by Socialist MEP Istvan Ujhelyi – holds a protest on Tuesday in Brussels’ Schuman Square.

The Hungarian speakers – MEP Istvan Ujhelyi (MSZP/S&D), Barnabas Mester (RED), MEP Benedek Javor (Parbeszed/Greens-EFA), Balazs Nemeth (Momentum), Janos Kendernay (LMP) and MEP Csaba Molnar (DK/S&D) – will be joined by Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini, the rapporteur of the report about the rule of law in Hungary.

Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini, author of a report critical of the state of the rule of law in Hungary approved by the European Parliament last year, addressed a demonstration against the Hungarian government’s policies organised by the Hungarian opposition in Brussels on Tuesday.

In her speech at the protest organised by the Radical European Democrats (RED) movement, Sargentini stressed the importance of a free media and being critical of governments in a democracy.

The Commission’s top German Brexit officials are clear: the Withdrawal Agreement hugely favours the EU, and was always meant to be so.

The word from these top EU officials is that: “Northern Ireland is the price that Britain must pay for Brexit;” that the Withdrawal Agreement shows Brexit “doesn’t work”; that “the power is with the EU” and that “the EU has the best negotiating position for the future relationship”.

Much attention has focused on Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxemburger EU Commission President, and Michel Barnier, the Commission’s French chief Brexit negotiator.

Italy’s Euroskeptic deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has said he wants Italy and Poland to join together to create a “European Spring” which could end the long-standing French and German domination on the continent.

Speaking during a press conference with Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudzi?ski in Warsaw on Wednesday, Salvini said that Poland and Italy “will be part of the new spring of Europe, the renaissance of European values” which would create a “new equilibrium” where the dominance of France and Germany is diminished.

The leader of the Northern League party said that upcoming European parliamentary elections, set for May, could lead away from a Europe “that is run by bureaucrats.”

Head of online hate speech monitoring group “Näthatsgranskaren” Tomas Åberg receives tax funds for mass reporting pensioners and others who write critically about migration on Facebook.

The European Union on Tuesday froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit and two of its staff, as the Netherlands accused Iran of two killings on its soil and joined France and Denmark in alleging Tehran plotted other attacks in Europe.

This would make a great movie. Two Japanese couriers are stopped and searched trying to cross into Switzerland from Italy with 134 Billion in US bearer bonds. The bonds were hidden in a secret compartment of a suitcase.

Yes, officials are determining if these are counterfeit or legitimate. If real, Italy stands to collect 40 Billion dollars as that is the penalty on the 134 billion amount.

These bonds (#249 500 million notes) are bearer bonds,that is like a check drawn on the U.S. Treasury,payable to the holder.

You just can't make this stuff up,but this story has had almost no exposure by the MSM in this country.

Denmark announced on Tuesday that the European Union has agreed to impose sanctions on Iran’s intelligence service over plans to assassinate opponents of the Islamic Republic across the European Union.

“The EU just agreed to enact sanctions against an Iranian intelligence service for its assassination plots on European soil,” wrote Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen on Twitter. “Strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behaviour in Europe.”

Emmanuel Macron earlier voiced the idea of building a European military so that fellow EU nations could defend themselves from wide-ranging threats. The French leader subsequently came under fire from the White House, which called on him to pay his fair share of NATO membership.

Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to deliver a rebuke to Emmanuel Macron, chastising the French president's ideas of a pan-European army and divisive environmental policies.

Trump scolded Macron for his proposal to create a single European army so that Europe would have a greater military autonomy. The 45th POTUS has repeatedly claimed that many NATO members have not been dishing out enough cash for the alliance's needs.

"The idea of a European Military didn't work out too well in WWI or WWII. But the US was there for you, and always will be. All we ask is that you pay your fair share of NATO," he added.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly slammed the European Union and urged its member states to defend their national sovereignty. He also described the bloc as an American "foe" in terms of trade and blamed European countries for their low defence spending.

Brussels has voiced anger over the White House's move to quietly downgrade the diplomatic status of the European Union’s ambassador to the US in 2018, according to The Independent.

The newspaper cited an EU spokesperson as saying that Washington had not notified the bloc of the unannounced "recent change" and that officials had discussed "possible implications" for the delegation in Washington with their US counterparts.

The European Union is about to implode this year, investor Mitch Feierstein has predicted in a New Year episode of the Keiser Report. He also reveals which country will become the next Greece – and the answer may surprise you.

This year will be harsh for Europe not only due to Brexit, because other member states besides the UK could also bring the bloc down, according to Feierstein. Nationwide protests in France are only the first sign of looming wider unrest, the analyst told RT’s Max Keiser.

“You are gonna see global unrest. I think you’ll it as a feature in Italy when the EU tries to bully them,” the British-American investor noted, citing infective “draconian austerity measures.”

Spain now leads in number of migrant crossings than any other European country. Whilst at the same time, crossings into Italy have fallen 80 per cent, Reuters reports.

The European border agency, Frontex, reported that 150,000 migrants entered EU countries illegally in 2018. Spain’s portion of those was double previous years’ having 57,000 using the now most active wroute through Morocco. Iraq and Syrian illegal migrants to Cyprus and Greece were up to 56,000.

On the other hand, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has kept his campaign promise of reducing illegal immigration to Italy.

They’ve seen an 80 per cent drop since Salvini said in June, “From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration.” There were 23,000 crossings into Italy, the majority during the first half of the year.

Thousands have taken to the streets in the Serbian capital of Belgrade late on Sunday to protest - for the fifth week in a row - the policies of the country's president, Aleksandar Vucic.

Demonstrators carried banners with the words, "We are the people," "Stop the treason, defend the constitution and back the people" and "down with the thieves" as loudspeakers played recordings of the president's ‘promises.'

Protesters are demanding electoral reform, better living conditions for retirees, public control over the distribution of wealth and various anti-corruption measures.

An estimated ten-thousand Hungarian protesters took the streets of Budapest this weekend denouncing the country's new labor code, which increases a workers’ allowable overtime from 250 to 400 hours a year, in a move that union leaders have dubbed the “slave law.”

Union workers claim that the law, proposed by Prime Minister Victor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, seeks to increase Hungarian company profits at the expense of workers by adding an extra workday per week.

While some protested new courts that many have noted are easily manipulated by the PM, others attacked state-controlled media.

"The TV is lying," protesters yelled while others carried banners with the phrases "sweep away the regime" or "national strike," the Guardian reported.

Submitted by Alasdair Macleod of The Mises Institute

It is easy to conclude the EU, and the Eurozone in particular, is a financial and systemic time-bomb waiting to happen. Most commentary has focused on problems that are routinely patched over, such as Greece, Italy, or the impending rescue of Deutsche Bank. This is a mistake. The European Central Bank and the EU machine are adept in dealing with issues of this sort, mostly by brazening them out, while buying everything off. As Mario Draghi famously said, "whatever it takes."

There is a precondition for this legerdemain to work. Money must continue to flow into the financial system faster than the demand for it expands, because the maintenance of asset values is the key. And the ECB has done just that, with negative deposit rates and its €2.5 trillion asset purchase program. But that program ends this month, making it the likely turning point, whereby it all starts to go wrong.

Fathi El-Abed, who is head of the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Society, has attempted to register (as a private individual) to the event by mail, as is requested in the open and public Facebook event page. The response he got from the head of MIFF Dina Grossman was as follows:

After recommendation of security personnel I must unfortunately deny your participation.

But Fathi is an extremely peaceful man. He has opinions, indeed strong ones, but he is very diplomatic and polite. As he notes himself, he was working for the Foreign Ministry, where he was “security-screened from top to bottom”. This was obviously not really about security.

A veritable farce unfolded before our eyes, as also the major daily Berlingske got interested in the story, and published a piece yesterday, titled “Prominent debater denied entry to Israel seminar out of fear for synagogue’s security” (Danish).

Germany's AfD party has raised the prospect of 'Dexit', saying it will back withdrawal from the EU if Brussels does not combat the 'Islamisation' of the continent.

A party manifesto released ahead of the European Parliament elections in May said Islam was a 'danger to Europe'.

The AfD, which has risen to prominence in the wake of the migrant influx into Germany, said the EU had become 'undemocratic' and 'occupied by the political class.'

Head of online hate speech monitoring group “Näthatsgranskaren” Tomas Åberg receives tax funds for mass reporting pensioners and others who write critically about migration on Facebook.

And now he claims that his reports to the police have resulted in almost 150 hate speech convictions.

After putting 3,500 troops on standby in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit and barges instructed to reserve place for 'emergency supplies', Theresa May and her government are taking their "Project Fear" - the campaign of doomsaying warnings and threats designed to push MPs to vote for May's Brexit withdrawal agreement - to the next level by reviving fears about violence in Northern Ireland.

According to the Guardian, some 1,000 police officers from England and Scotland are beginning preparations and training for a possible deployment to Northern Ireland in case a 'no deal' Brexit forces the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the EU - the only land border between an EU state and the UK.

Germany’s major rightwing party, the AfD, threatens to push for a so-called ‘Dexit’ if the EU doesn’t restore its members’ national sovereignty and takes no action against “Islamization of Europe” within the next five years.

“The European Community has evolved into an undemocratic structure that’s been occupied by Europe's political classes and designed by non-transparent, uncontrolled bureaucracies,” Alternative for Germany (AfD) party claims in the latest edition of their election program unveiled ahead of the 2019 European polls.

The BBC’s biased coverage of the Brexit debate is denying the British public the comfort of knowing the fight was fair – knowledge that may prevent anger from boiling over post-Brexit, says David Hardy.

To be charitable, you could say the euro has proved itself merely by surviving until its 20th birthday this January. That is a low bar.

Monetary union has otherwise failed as an economic and political endeavour. The evidence of Europe's 'Lost Decade' is that it can only ever be made to work under a regime of technocrat Caesaropapism, that is to say by stripping elected parliaments of their lifeblood control over taxation, spending, and the core economic policies of the nation state.

A Belgian commercial court has supported local taxi firms and said that world-famous Uber services are outlawed in Brussels, according to local media reports citing the court decision.

The court order was issued on December 18 by the Dutch-speaking tribunal of commerce, Belgian news outlets La Libre Belgique and La Derniere Heure said on Thursday. The ruling allows only drivers with a Brussels taxi license and a special lamp light on the roof to operate in the Belgian capital, which hosts headquarters of NATO and EU Commission as well as offices of many other key international organizations.

The times when mayors of Palermo, Florence and Naples could cash in on illegal immigrants are over, Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, vowing that those resisting the new policies will answer before law and history.
“Those who help the illegal immigrants, hate Italians,” Salvini said, blasting his opponents on Facebook and Twitter.

The minister from the conservative Lega Nord Party promised that the rebelling city heads will “answer before law and history.” And it's no idle threat, as the former mayor of the Calabrian town of Riace is currently under house arrest on charges of aiding and abetting illegal immigration.

Shanker Singham, the Director of the International Trade and Competition Unit for the Institute of Economic Affairs, has claimed the EU will still agree to a Brexit deal with the UK if Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement is rejected by MPs. British politicians are expected to debate the Prime Minister’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement when they return to Parliament next week before they vote on the deal on the week of the 14 January. Speaking on Sky News, the Brexit supporting economist insisted that an "alternative" deal is still possible with Brussels, even if Theresa May’s agreement is rejected.

Croatia threatened to cancel its purchase of F-16 fighter jets from Israel on Thursday, January 2 after months of stalling due to a lack of U.S. approval.

Croatia had in March agreed to buy 12 used F-16s from Israel to replace its Russian-made MiG-21s.

The deal, worth $500 million (€440 million), was the Balkan nation’s biggest arms purchase since splitting from former Yugoslavia in the 1990s war.

But Washington objected to the sale of the U.S.-made jets because it wants the removal of electronic system upgrades that Israel added.

After months of delay, the Croatian defense ministry said it asked Israel for “official information by January 11 on whether Israel can deliver the planes.”

If Croatia is not able to buy the specific jets it chose, the government will cancel the deal, the ministry said.

What the Lisbon Treaty actually created was an authoritarian political system that infringes on human and political rights.

Article 4 states in part: "...The Member States shall facilitate the achievement of the Union's tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives." In other words, the interests of the Union are above the interests of individual states and citizens.

In a democratic system with a healthy balance of power, a ruling coalition can be challenged or replaced by the opposition. This is precisely what is lacking in the EU, as the Treaty of Lisbon requires that European Commission members be selected on the basis of their "European commitment." This means, in effect, that anyone with a dissenting view may never become a member of the Commission. As history repeatedly demonstrates, where there is no opposition, freedom is lost.

THE EUROZONE must “integrate economically” or “risk breaking up” in 2019, as spiralling debts, trade wars across the Atlantic and Brexit turmoil cause chaos for 19 of the 28 EU member states.

Jean-Claude Juncker used private jets for nearly half his worldwide 'missions' this year, official figures reveal.

These 'air taxis' should only be used when no suitable commercial flights can be found, according to EU Commission rules.

But Mr Juncker chartered private jets for 21 out of 43 official trips between January and November, racking up a bill that is likely to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, a Daily Mail analysis reveals.

The revelation sparked calls last night for the EU Commission president to be investigated over his allegedly 'excessive' use of private flights, which are funded by EU taxpayers.

Russia will provide a tit-for-tat response in case of placement of US missiles banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel, published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

"Unfortunately, our European colleagues, whose independence we wish to be reflected in their actions, are not very ready for it and follow the US even when it goes directly against their interests," Lavrov said. "An example: voting against the Russian resolution in support of maintaining the INF treaty."

"We have heard the largest amount of concerns over the US’ unilateral exit from this Treaty in Europe," the minister noted. "However, the entire EU has voted against our offer, that is, basically, in favor of the INF Treaty ceasing to exist and in favor of the recurring threat of placement of US missiles in Europe banned under this Treaty".

When historians examine the first few decades of the so-called post-Cold War era, they are likely to marvel at the clumsy and provocative policies that the United States and its NATO allies pursued toward Russia. Perceptive historians will conclude that a multitude of insensitive actions by those governments poisoned relations with Moscow, and by the latter years of the Obama administration, led to the onset of a new cold war. During the Trump administration, matters grew even worse, and that cold war threatened to turn hot.

Since the history of our era is still being written, we have an opportunity to avoid such a cataclysmic outcome. However, the behavior of America’s political, policy, and media elites in response to the latest parochial quarrel between Russia and Ukraine regarding the Kerch Strait suggests that they learned nothing from their previous blunders. Worse, they seem determined to intensify an already counterproductive, hardline policy toward Moscow.

During the seventh consecutive weekend of yellow vest protests in Paris, a group of protesters can be seen taking down the EU flag.

The sources of the video, which surfaced yesterday, say it took place during Act VII (the seventh protest weekend).

When the flag is taken down people cheer and a French account that posted the video calls it “the flag of shame”.

Yellow vest protests took place all over France and one of the targets of the protesters was the mainstream media as it “spread fake news” about the size of the movement.

An Ipsos poll shows that nationalism is on the rise in Belgium as Flemish nationalist party “Vlaams Belang” doubled its support.

Vlaams Belang, a party with Flemish national interests, has grown from 5.5 to 12 per cent in the polls. The party is heavily opposed against Islamisation, mass migration and globalisation.

But there’s more good news for conservative Belgium as the N-VA party has also gained support in the polls. The former government party, which opposes mass migration as well, increased its support by two per cent.

The 19 km (11.8 mile) Fehmarnbelt link was supposed to be constructed in 2024, but the project has been previously delayed due to environmental protests in Germany.

Berlin has approved 52.6 billion Danish crowns (€7 bln or $8 bln) rail and road tunnel that would link the Danish island of Lolland to the German island of Fehmarn.

"This is the result of several years of cooperation between the parties involved in Denmark and Germany", Claus Dynesen, project director at Femern A/S company, responsible for the construction, said in a statement.

NATO-Russian relations have been complicated over the past years as the alliance maintains its course for eastward expansion. The alliance has been also stepping up its military presence in Europe since 2014, using the alleged Russian involvement in the Ukraine crisis and what it describes as general destabilizing activities as a pretext. Moscow has refuted the allegations and warned that such a policy may undermine stability in the region.