The fact that a Western, formally democratic European country is being upbraided—however gently—by the human rights group, is something Europeans are rather unused to.

The agency’s chief was eager to draw a clear distinction between its efforts to counter false information and Orwellian, quasi-authoritarian efforts to exert total control over the information available to the public.

Danish press have speculated that the charges may be related to a 2020 interview where Frederiksen appeared to confirm the existence of a highly classified spy program.

By extending maternity and paternity benefits to short term migrants, the Italian state will help to facilitate the policy known as ‘replacement migration,’ which is often put forward by liberal politicians as a solution to Europe’s low birth rates and aging population.

Shortly after some 3,000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly last Wednesday in Sofia, tempers flared, and demonstrators—comprised heavily of supporters of the irredentist-nationalist Revival party—clashed with police and stormed towards the parliament, coming just several meters away from the main entrance.

The disappearance of the specific status of the Order is not simply a matter of symbols. Its diplomatic status, for example, facilitates its humanitarian work in a number of countries around the world.

For someone who has just landed one of the most prized jobs in the EU apparat, Metsola has an unusual profile. Her self-professed feminism and staunch defense of civil rights, would place her squarely in the progressive camp, and endear her to many inhabiting the EU’s institutions. Yet, she labels herself a conservative, with an anti-abortion stance to boot.

The choice of the Italian president is the result of complicated negotiations between the different parties. For many years, the position has remained in the hands of the centre-left, but the right-wing, which nowadays has a relative majority, may be able to win the vote for the first time since the demise of the Christian democracy in the 1990s.

During a weekend interview, Thomas Haldenwang, the president of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, called anti-lockdown protesters, vaccine skeptics, and so-called ‘lateral thinkers,’ “enemies of the state” who “fundamentally reject the democratic state.”

In addition to being suspected of carrying out espionage work for the Moroccan government, one of the deciding factors that resulted in Toujagini’s residence permit being revoked was a recently resurfaced video that shows him delivering a fiery speech in front of a large contingent of faithful Muslims. 

If it decides to shut down Telegram, Germany will join countries like China, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, and Cuba who’ve also banned the application in the past.

While committed to a diplomatic solution, Western officials’ projections were grim. To reporters, U.S. Ambassador Michael Carpenter said that escalation is not impossible, and that “the drumbeat of war is sounding loud, and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill.”