EU ELECTIONS RESULT IS A SHIFT TO THE RIGHT

It's starting to happen. People are waking up. Europeans are getting fed up with leftist socialism, dhimmitude. They are a road map for the US--Conservatives need to stand up and fight back--and vote. This is what happens when you do. Breaking via Yahoo. Read it all here.

BRUSSELS – Europe was leaning to the right Sunday as tens of millions of people voted in European Parliament elections, with conservative parties favored in many countries against a backdrop of economic crisis.

Opinion polling showed right-leaning governments with edges over their opposition in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and elsewhere. Conservative opposition parties were tied or ahead in Britain, Spain and some smaller countries.

For many, the Europe-wide elections were most important as a snapshot of national political sentiment.

High unemployment across Europe has increased voter dissatisfaction with mainstream national parties, and skepticism over the EU's power to help spur economic recovery.

Polls ahead of Sunday's vote showed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats leading the center-left Social Democrats in Germany, which holds national elections in September. Merkel hopes to form a center-right government after the national vote with the pro-business Free Democrats.

Voters in Germany are more concerned about the costs of financial intervention than the commitment to job preservation favored by the Social Democrats, said Tanja A. Boerzel, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University.

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party has steadily held the lead in polls, with the Socialist Party second.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom People's Party held a two-digit lead over his main center-left rival in the most recent polling despite a deep recession and a scandal over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old model. Analysts saw Berlusconi's tough stance against illegal immigration as a vote getter.

In Britain, dissident Labour legislators said a plot to oust Prime Minister Gordon Brown could accelerate after the party's expected dismal results in the European elections are announced.

Opponents say the Labour leader has been so tainted by the economic crisis and a scandal over lawmakers' expenses that the opposition Conservatives are virtually guaranteed to win the next national election, which must be called by June 2010.

More here.

EU DOES NOT REALLY RECOGNIZE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT

EU reps like Javier Solana are attempting more interference in Israel's internal politics:

The European Union urged Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday to craft a government that embraces the long-standing goal of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

The prospect of a new hawkish government, with Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman as a possible foreign minister, will be seen in Europe as a setback to the Middle East peace process.

"Let me say very clearly that the way the European Union will relate to an [Israeli] government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different," said Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief.

US, European and moderate Arab officials have largely remained silent about the possibility of Lieberman becoming Israel's top diplomat. But as Netanyahu is in the final stages of crafting a coalition government based on the Feb. 10 election outcome that prospect could become a reality this week.

Solana and other EU officials met with the foreign ministers of Egypt and the Palestinian authority to discuss the formation of a Palestinian unity government - bringing the rival Hamas and Fatah factions under one roof - and rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Israel's recent offensive.

Solana is one of the most disgusting people in the EU, who led to a lot of the current problems. And any "urging" they do here is merely an attempt to dictate to another country how to run its business.

Here's some more on this over here.

SERBIA: "Former Guerrilla Thaci Elected Kosovo PM"

NYTIMES/REUTERS: Former Guerrilla Thaci Elected Kosovo PM

PRISTINA, Serbia - Ethnic Albanian former guerrilla Hashim Thaci was elected prime minister of Kosovo on Wednesday and vowed the breakaway province would declare independence from Serbia within weeks.

Fuelling speculation that Kosovo might strike out alone in February or March, Thaci told reporters: "I assure you that within a few weeks we will declare independence."

• I SUPPORTED THE WAR AGAINST SERBIA - BUT ONLY TO PREVENT GENOCIDE BY THE SOCIALIST/RACIST MILOSEVIC, AND NOT TO ESTABLISH ANOTHER INDEPENDENT MUSLIM STATE IN EUROPE AND TO SEE A TERRORIST ELECTED ITS FIRST PRESIDENT.

• THIS IS NOT A GOOD DEVELOPMENT.

THE KOSOVARS SHOULD HAVE AUTONOMY AND EQUALITY BUT NOT INDEPENDENCE.

PEACE NOW TRIES TO MASK ITS CROOKED FUNDING BY EUROPEAN VILLAINS

The leftist anti-Israel group has been getting funds from bad European sources, and according to Channel 2 news in Israel, they've even been trying to cover it up. From Israel National News:

(IsraelNN.com) The Peace Now movement is suspected of setting up a financial scam to mask the European sources of its funding for its reconnaissance work against Israeli Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

The Non Profit Associations Registrar suspects Peace Now of operating a front organization for improper collection of funds, according to a report on Channel 2 TV by reporter Amit Segal.

The radical left-wing Peace Now group allegedly used a non-profit organization (amuta) called Sha'al, which supposedly dealt with educational matters, to receive and disburse millions of shekels over a period of many years.

Some of the organization's donors were exposed in the course of the inquiry. They include the British government, which donated more that 500,000 shekels, Norway (800,000 shekels) and the European Union, which donated 451,000 shekels earmarked for Peace Now's ongoing "settlement hunting" activity: the documentation of construction activity by Jews in Judea and Samaria.

So, the government of Londonistan strikes again, I see, ditto Norway's. Read also this surprising article that reveals that Peace Now is not legally structured, which should mean that they can't file lawsuits, and see also this special site (in Hebrew) which monitors their illegal actions.

GOVERNMENT WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED IS TYRANNY: WELCOME TO THE EUSSR

VIA GOV - protest within the EU parliament that you've probably read nothing about:



RTWT. The Old Media in Europe is worse than it is here, according to Bruce Bawer, and this is why this protect has gone unreported. It's like the good news from Iraq, and the reports from scientists who DON'T agree with Al Gore: since it does against their leftist agenda, they just don't report it.

If the EU bureaucrats thought the member states could win a referendum, then they would be sure to recommend that each have one.

They know that they would lose, and so they don;t want any member states to have one.

That's why they have gone the "treaty" route, and signed off on what is called "The Lisbon Treaty."

Only Ireland is going to have a referendum.

The rest of Europe will just be told it's a done deal.

The Lisbon Treaty reduces each nation's sovereignty over its own affairs and makes each nation - and the citizens of each nation - more subject to laws they have never voted on - and can't.

This is not democratic. It is tyrannical.

Between this burgeoning statism and the attacks by jihadism and encroaching dhimmitude, I feel I Europe will not survive as a Western democratic continent, but will come to more resemble Turkey or Algeria.

Pity.

EU ENVOY DISAPPOINTED WITH IRAN OVER NUCLEAR TALKS

From the BBC:

But top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the discussions were
positive and more would be held.

The US and its allies are now expected to press for more sanctions on Tehran, but Mr Jalili said such pressure would not make Iran curb its nuclear plans.

The UN is demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran says its programme is peaceful, but some Western powers fear it is seeking to make weapons.

'I expected more'

The two envoys emerged after five hours of talks and spoke to the media separately, giving dramatically different interpretations of the outcome.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says Mr Solana was looking for signs that the Iranians were prepared to suspend uranium enrichment work as demanded by the UN Security Council, but his comments after the talks suggest there has been no progress on the issue.

"I expected more and am therefore disappointed," the EU official said.

"I will be in telephonic contact with the Iranians before the end of December," he added, saying the envoys would meet again if circumstances permitted.

Now that you are done reading that, reread the first four paragraphs of the BBC article. What you will find is that the situation is exactly the same as it was last year this time. It is also exactly the same as it was the year before, and the year before that.

The situation has not changed at all.

If nothing changes, nothing will change.

Mr. Solana ought to be disappointed with himself. After all, he has been ignoring reality for years now, and he has been doing it with regard to one of the biggest problems facing our world today.

EUROPE HAS A BIGGER TRADE DEFICIT WITH CHINA THAN THE USA

• YOU KNOW ALL THAT CONVENTIONAL WISDOM (CW) THAT SAYS THAT THE SO-CALLED US TRADE DEFICIT WITH CHINA IS WHY OUR DOLLAR IS GETTING WEAKER, AND THAT IT'S A THREAT TO OUR SECURITY AND PROSPERITY?

• WELL. THAT CW IS BS.

• EUROPE'S CURRENCY - THE EURO - IS "STRONGER" THAN THE DOLLAR RIGHT NOW, AND GUESS WHAT????????? THEY HAVE A BIGGER TRADE DEFICIT WITH CHINA THAN WE DO! (AND THEY ARE JUST AS DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS OF ENERGY AS WE ARE, TOO!)

• SO DON'T FOR THE CW/BS! (MORE ON THE FALLACY OF TRADE DEFICITS HERE. AND HERE AND HERE.)

• CURRENCY VALUATION IS A VERY COMPLEX THING WHICH DEPENDS OF SEVERAL IF NOT DOZENS OF FACTORS. THE POPULIST NOTION THAT WE NEED TRADE BARRIERS AND A STRONG CURRENCY IS WRONG.

HERE ARE THE FACTS OF EURO-CHINA TRADE: STRAITS TIMES:

CHINA yesterday pledged to do more to expand imports from Europe and give market forces more play over its currency during a tense one-day summit with the European Union.

Addressing EU criticisms over its ballooning trade deficit with China, which the bloc blames mainly on the yuan's weakness against the euro, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the summit participants that Beijing did not seek the lopsided trade nor was it solely responsible for the currency situation.

'In China's open market, every trading partner is treated equally,' said Mr Wen, who along with other Chinese leaders and officials vowed to continue dialogue with their European counterparts to resolve the currency spat.

However, the Chinese Premier also told the audience of European and Chinese business leaders attending the summit that China would hold firm to its policy of reforming the yuan gradually.

'China will continue to reform the RMB exchange rate regime in a gradual, proactive and manageable manner,' he said, while insisting the Chinese currency was not the only reason for their trade dispute.

He added: 'I believe that the main cause of the rise of the euro is the big fall in the value of the US dollar.'

... EU trade officials have lately become as vocal as their American counterparts in criticising what they say is a significantly undervalued yuan.

The trade deficit of the EU with China is likely to reach a whopping 160 billion euros (S$341 billion) this year, while the United States' trade deficit with China was US$232.5 billion (S$336 billion) last year.

The 27-member EU bloc is China's largest trading partner.

• THE WEAKER DOLLAR HURTS THE EU AND MORE THAN IT HURTS US.

• YOU WONT HEAR THAT FROM THE BDS-AFFLICTED LEFTISTS IN THE MSM - THEY WANT TO USE THE WEAK DOLLAR TO BASH BUSH AND THE GOP.

• ESPECIALLY NOW THAT OUR VICTORY IN IRAQ IS MORE OBVIOUS, AND IT'S WINTER - AS A RESULT, THEY CAN'T GO NEGATIVE EVERY DAY AND EVERY NIGHT WITH DEFEATISM AND GLOBAL WARMING FEAR-MONGERING.

• HENCE THEIR EMPHASIS OF THE WEAK DOLLAR AND THE WEAK HOUSING MARKET AND - THEY HOPE - A WEAK CHRISTMAS RETAIL PERIOD.

DON'T FALL FOR IT.

NEWS FROM EURABIA: ANTI-SEMITIC CRIMES CONTINUE TO RISE

HAARETZ: Jewish group says Anti-Semitic incidents in Holland up by 64%

Anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands have leapt by 64 percent last year, according a report by a veteran Jewish non-profit organization.

In its report, released on Thursday, the Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation on Israel lists 261 cases of non-physical anti-Semitic attacks - compared to 159 in 2005.

The report, which covers all of 2006 and the first four months of 2007, listed eight cases of violent anti-Semitic attacks and seven cases of "violent behavior." The organization's director, Dr. Ronny Naftaniel, told Haaretz yesterday that most of the incidents recorded occurred on the streets of Amsterdam.

• THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE THEY MURDERED THEO VAN GOGH. THIS WAS ONCE THE HOME OF AYAAN HIRSI ALI.

• HIS MURDER; HER EXILE, AND THESE CRIMES HAVE TWO SOURCES: JIHADISM AND THE LEFTIST/DHIMMI ENABLERS.

• IT'S GETTING WORSE IN EUROPE, NOT BETTER. AND IT WON'T GET BETTER UNTIL WE DEFEAT THE LEFT.
  

• MERKEL, RASMUSSEN, SARKO AND PB16 HAD BETTER GET THEORS ASSES IN GEAR OR IT'S GONNA BE ALL OVER SOON.

EU STOPS FUNDING FOR GAZA ELECTRICITY, BUT WILL IT LAST?

Here's a welcome step that the otherwise corrupt European Union just took, but for how long?

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents were forced to make do without electricity Monday as the coastal strip's power supply became the latest victim of feuding between Gaza's Hamas rulers and their Fatah rivals.

European donors stopped paying key electricity aid over the weekend, concerned that Hamas is siphoning off revenues. As Fatah and Hamas traded charges of corruption, at least half of Gaza's 1.4 million people were plunged into darkness. [...]

On Sunday, the European Union stopped funding fuel for the power plant that produces electricity for at least 700,000 Gazans. On Monday, it said the payments would not resume because it had information that Hamas was "diverting" electricity revenues.

"We are ready to resume our support to the Gaza power plant within hours once we receive the appropriate assurances that all the funds will be exclusively used for the benefit of the Gaza population," the European Commission - the EU's executive branch - said in a statement.

If they were smart, they'd take all that money and use it to help aid people on their own continent who need it more than a bunch of hatemongers do.

Here's some definite good news though:

Also Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed six Hamas militants in central Gaza, according to Hamas and Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli army said its aircraft targeted a car carrying gunmen who fired rockets into Israel earlier in the day.

Very good.

Europe under threat - part 2: Mark Malloch Brown and the transnationalist left

HOT AIR:

UK Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch-Brown, a wholly owned subsidiary of Soros International (there’s more than one link in that phrase), said prior to his becoming FM that the UK ought to cede its seat on the UNSC to the European Union:

Last October, when Lord Malloch-Brown was the UN’s deputy secretary general, he told EU diplomats in Brussels that the EU was heading towards one single seat within the UN institutions. “I think it will go in stages. We are going to see a growing spread of it institution by institution,” he was reported as saying.

Lord Malloch-Brown said he hoped it would happen “as quickly as possible. I’m a huge fan of it.”

PM Gordon Brown says there’s no move afoot to give up the UK seat, but of course there actually is an incremental move to cede UK foreign policy to the EU, without anything as messy as democracy getting in the way.

Lord Malloch-Brown is an interesting and very influential creature, a transnational progressive of the first order who can be seen on the world stage here and there, taking turns at bat for the Soros set, papering over massive corruption at the UN and causing and exploiting policy differences between the transnational left and the US.

USE THE LINKS.

THIS IS PART OF THE LEFTIST THREAT TO EUROPE. THEY'RE TURNING THE EU INTO THE EUSSR/EURABIA.

MAYBE THEY'LL CALL IT "THE MEDITERRANEAN UNION."

EU PRESSURING US TO ELIMINATE VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL EU MEMBERS. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Not content with pressuring the secularists in Turkey to give free reign to Islamists, the EU is now also pressuring the US to open up its borders to all EU members:

The European Union is planning to pressure the United States to include all EU nationals (27 member states) in its visa-waiver program. EU is insisting that the visa-waiver be fully reciprocal since all EU member states allow US citizens to enter without visas. "U.S. officials say Greece and most of the newer EU members still fail to meet criteria for joining the visa-waiver program."

Melissa Petri brings up some good reasons why the US might want to keep visa requirements for these 12 less than fully industrialized countries - illegal workers, etc. But she leaves out something that we think might be a little more significant: if this becomes the precedent, what happens if Turkey - with its 40 million Muslims and recent penchant for electing Islamist parties - joins the EU? On one hand we have the EU promising to let Turkey join just as soon as they loosen military control and therefore become more Islamist - and on the other hand, we have the EU demanding that the US drop travel restrictions on anyone they let join.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]