Western Europe’s Right-Wing Parties Are Sensational but Ineffectual

William Pfaff / Truthdig Apr 16, 2015 The current transatlantic view of Europe is one of continental political decline, elegant at best but ominous at worst. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Is There Still Hope for the European Union?

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig May 27, 2014 Far-right, Eurosceptic political parties won significant victories in the recent European parliament elections, but does this spell the end of the EU? Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Nationalist Will Creeps Into European Parliaments

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig May 26, 2014 The far right took election victories in France, Denmark and Austria among continentwide contests Sunday that produced a record number of parliamentary members who are unfavorable toward the European Union. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Election of a New European Parliament

William Pfaff / Truthdig May 23, 2014 Elections like those taking place this weekend are traditionally unsatisfactory, but this year they may provide an unprecedented shock. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Ukraine Debacle Threatens Europe’s Union

William Pfaff / Truthdig Apr 2, 2014 The issue of rightist nationalism as a threat to the European Union and the peace of the new Europe has preoccupied Europeans since 1945, when the predecessors of the EU -- the West European Union and then the Coal and Steel Community -- were created to assure that Nazism or some totalitarian counterpart would not again rise in Europe. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Polish Dissidents Cry Out for Snowden

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Sep 30, 2013 Four members of Poland's Solidarity movement, which toppled the country's totalitarian regime in the 1980s, recently issued an open letter calling for their government to grant NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden sanctuary from the United States. “The fact that only dictatorial governments agreed to give him shelter shames the democratic states,” they wrote. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

EU Rejects Aggressive Cut in Carbon Emissions

Staff / Truthdig Jul 5, 2011 On Tuesday, conservative British representatives led the European Parliament to reject a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 in a preliminary vote stirred by claims that such a sharp decrease taken out of step with other nations would drive businesses out of EU countries. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ireland Votes to Streamline the European Union

Staff / Truthdig Oct 3, 2009 Sixteen months after rejecting the same treaty, voters in Ireland have emphatically accepted the European Union's Lisbon Treaty -- an agreement that gives more power to the European Parliament and creates the position of the president of the European Council. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Dutch Rightists Score in Elections

Staff / Truthdig Jun 5, 2009 Exit polls show the notoriously anti-immigrant Dutch politician Geert Wilders gaining 15 percent of the vote and second place in elections for the European Parliament in the Netherlands -- even as he faces prosecution on charges of inciting hatred in his speeches. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Lo Scandalo: Italian PM in Hot Water

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2009 Bill Clinton's got nothing on Silvio Berlusconi, if the Italian prime minister's estranged wife's claims are proved true. Rumors that the 72-year-old Berlusconi had improper relations with a minor, and invited some 40 young women to his villa for a New Year's Eve party, aren't significant for their titillation value so much as for the threat they may pose to his position as Italy's head of state. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )