“The Polish-Belarusian border separates two worlds—dictatorship from democracy, and a normal state which cares for its citizens from a regime which uses the citizens of other countries as human shields,” said PM Morawiecki.

When asked about the EU’s intention to excise the word ‘Christmas’ from all official documentation, the 84-year-old head of the Catholic Church denounced the idea, borne of a “watered-down secularism,” saying that “in history many, many dictatorships have tried to do this kind of thing. Think of Napoleon … think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one,” reminding them that “it is something that throughout history hasn’t worked.” 

Elon Musk urged, “Please look at the numbers, if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble.”

What galvanized the protestors ranged from resistance to masking, objection to the controversial COVID Safety Ticket (CST), which allows only those in the vaccinated, testing negative, or newly recovered categories to enter most public spaces, to the specter of mandatory vaccination–for now, limited to those in care and health services.

‘Misogyny’ and ‘hate’ are already nebulous, elastic terms. How to legislate justice for these offenses raises concerns over how such legislation would affect freedom of speech.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reflected on what a post-Merkel Germany would mean for his country. “The era of ambiguity, stealth politics and drifting has ended with Merkel. We now prepare for battle with our eyes wide open.” 

Pascal Arimont, Belgian MEP, said that a petrol bomb was thrown under his children’s bedroom windows while the family was at home.

During his visit to the Mavrovouni refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos—his second one in five years—Pope Francis

In a joint statement, the leaders rejected the notion of “a Europe governed by a self-appointed elite” and said that “only the sovereign institutions of the states have full democratic legitimacy.”

Some of the most notable proposals include the construction of physical barriers at Europe’s external borders, implementation of high-tech controls at internal borders, monetary guarantees (deposits) to be paid by asylum seekers awaiting approval, and withdrawal of subsidies for NGOs that facilitate illegal practises.

While the Roman Catholic Church, numbering about 3.7 million, is still the largest denomination in the country, aging membership and secularization are now making themselves felt. Catholics actively involved in parish life are few—about 150,000, a mere 4% of all registered Catholics.

Should the Kremlin act as the aggressor, sanctions would be imposed, Jens Stoltenberg said. These would likely be limited to economic sanctions and additional defensive deployments to NATO’s eastern flank.