Tag: EU

Self-determination in Spain

I wonder if the USA will intervene as energetically on behalf of the independence-seeking Catalans as it has on behalf of others who have successfully pursued self-determination:

Spanish prosecutors said on Thursday they would bring criminal charges against members of Catalonia’s parliament, as Madrid moved to crush the region’s plans for an independence referendum.

Separately, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had appealed to Spain’s Constitutional Court to declare the referendum illegal. The 1978 constitution states Spain is indivisible. “This vote will never take place,” he told a news conference. “In making the appeal, we are defending the rights of all Spaniards and all Catalans.”

A majority of Catalonia’s parliament voted on Wednesday to hold the Oct. 1 referendum, in an acrimonious session in which mainstream political parties left the chamber before the vote and pro-independence lawmakers sang the Catalan anthem.

The Constitutional Court has yet to rule on the matter but it declared a 2014 vote on independence illegal. The state prosecutor-general, Jose Manuel Maza, told reporters he had also asked the security forces to investigate any preparations by the Catalan government to hold the referendum. These could involve printing leaflets or preparing polling stations.

There is an air of unreality surrounding the entire affair. But really, if the Catalans genuinely want independence, why should they not have it? The Spanish government doesn’t appear to understand that it is calling its own democratic legitimacy into question.

Let’s face it, no one wants another Spanish civil war. The crazy thing is that an independent Catalonia would almost certainly turn around and demand admittance to the EU.

Border battles in the EU

Diversity and vibrancy suddenly don’t appear to be strengthening trans-European ties anymore:

AUSTRIA has warned it will send soldiers to close the border with Italy in 24 hours if Rome decides to take the “nuclear option” and grant visas to almost 100,000 migrants stranded in the Mediterranean country.

Austria is threatening to close the Brennan mountain pass border with Italy. Desperate Italian officials have said they are considering allowing thousands of migrants out of the country and into the rest of Europe, as they struggle to cope with the 10,000 people arriving every day.

Austria, which shares a border with Italy via Brenner, an Alpine mountain pass, has reacted to the proposals with fury, saying it would immediately introduce border controls in the region.

Yesterday during a border visit, Austria’s Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said: “Italy granting humanitarian visas to migrants is unacceptable. In that case, we would immediately introduce controls in Brenner.

Let’s see. Option 1: border war with Austria. Option 2: send the invaders back. This really doesn’t seem to be a very difficult decision.

This isn’t an entirely new development. Switzerland already has troops in position on the border just north of Como; they sent a tank battalion to the Como-Chiasso border last year. Which, one assumes, is why we didn’t see pictures of invaders swarming up through Switzerland towards Germany despite it being an obvious route.

How to keep your country

Hungary moves even further to the right:

Hundreds of Hungarian right-wing militants gathered in Budapest to launch a political movement that they hope will run in next year’s parliamentary elections on a platform that includes open racism.

Hungary’s main opposition party, Jobbik, has been moving away from its far-right roots and is staking out a more centrist position. This has created space for new hard-right initiatives.

Three groups held a rally in the suburb of Vecsés labelled “unfurling the flag of the far right”. Although attendance was limited its leaders have reached a national audience in the media and plan to take part in the 2018 elections.

The movement, to be called Force and Determination, looks more radical than any organisation targeting a serious political role since the fall of communism, and uses openly racist language to oppose liberalism and immigration.

Balázs László, one of the movement’s leaders, told the crowd of mostly black-clad muscular, tattooed men that Europe showed an ill-conceived tolerance in the face of peril from its existing minorities and the influx of millions more people. “Tens of millions are added to the ranks of the Arabs, Africans and gypsies who will show no tolerance once they realise the power that their demographic significance lends them,” he said. “Our ethnic community must come first … there is no equality.”

That symbol is more than a little reminiscent of Generation Identitaire in France. What is remarkable about this development is that Hungary is already the best-governed nation in Europe, having been on the front lines against Islamic invasion for centuries. I mean, this is how the center-moderate government governs there.

Human rights groups have heavily criticised a vote by the Hungarian parliament to force all asylum seekers into detention camps as the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, called migration “a Trojan horse for terrorism”.

The asylum seekers will be kept in converted shipping containers while they wait for their cases to be heard via video-link as part of measures Orbán said were designed to save Europe. He considers the migrants, many of whom are Muslims, as a threat to European Christian identity and culture.

The measure was fiercely opposed by civil liberties groups in the country and some socialist MPs but was nevertheless passed overwhelmingly by 138 votes to six with 22 abstentions. Support came from Orbán’s Fidesz party and the far-right Jobbik.

It’s important to keep pushing right because as the nationalist parties of the right, the mere act of governance is going to necessitate various compromises. As long as an uncompromising element remains outside of governance, there will be political force to counteract the leftward drift towards ill-conceived tolerance.

And as Hungary grows and prospers while the more tolerant nations of Europe burn and are overwhelmed by rape and violence, the appeal of the Right is only going to grow. Does this look like Germany to you?

The Polish example

This speech in Poland by the God-Emperor sounds promising.

President Trump will ask other European nations to “take inspiration” from Poland, which has rejected refugee resettlement, in a speech later this week.

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Thursday that President Trump will deliver a speech in Warsaw’s Krasinski Square, which symbolizes Polish heroism. He is flying to Poland next Wednesday and stopping there before he attends the G20 summit in Hamburg.

McMaster said that Trump will deliver a “major speech” in which he will “praise Polish courage” and its “emergence as a European power.” The nation is currently ruled by a nationalist Christian party that has rejected refugee resettlement and mass immigration.

Of course, the President’s message would be more meaningful if he would follow the Polish example and reject refugee resettlement and mass immigration in the USA too.

The Czech example isn’t bad either:

The Czech parliament is working to liberalize the country’s gun laws, allowing people to better defend themselves. The reason for this new policy is safety, as well as practicality; in light of recent attacks in neighboring countries, the Czech government recognizes that disarming people puts them in danger, and that broad European gun control policies are ineffective. The Interior Minister said it best when he asked parliament to “show [him] a single terrorist attack in Europe perpetrated using a legally-owned weapon”.

Step one: stop the importation

The Mayor of Rome calls for a halt to migration:

Rome’s mayor, Virginia Raggi, on Tuesday asked the interior ministry for migrant arrivals to the capital to be suspended. “I find it impossible, as well as risky, to think up further accommodation structures,” said Raggi in a letter sent to Paola Basilone, the prefect of Rome, in which she called for a “moratorium” on further new arrivals.

The mayor cited as reasons for the request the “strong migratory presence” in the capital and “the continued influx of foreign citizens”.

According to the most recent figures published by the administration, on January 1st 2016 there were approximately 364,632 foreigners living in Rome, amounting to 12.7 percent of the total population.

This was more or less the same as the previous year, but represented an increase of 6.2 points since the year 2000. And according to the Roman Observatory on Migration, Lazio is the Italian region with the second highest number of migrants, outdone only by Lombardy.

Across Italy as a whole, around 8.3 percent of the population is foreign, according to Istat figures which were also released on Tuesday.

In Rome, around half of the foreign population were from Europe, with Romania the best represented country.

Stopping the inflow is the first step. The next step will be in the next 4-6 years, when the outflows begin.

Catalonia to hold referendum

The referendum on Catalan independence will be held on October 1:

The leader of Spain’s Catalonia region, where a separatist movement is in full swing, on Friday announced an independence referendum for October 1st, in what will exacerbate tensions with Madrid. Speaking in Barcelona, Carles Puigdemont said the question would be: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state in the form of a republic?”

Catalonia, a wealthy, 7.5-million-strong region with its own language and customs, has long demanded greater autonomy. Separatist politicians in the northeastern region have tried for years to win approval from Spain’s central government for a vote like Scotland’s 2014 referendum on independence from Britain, which resulted in a “no” vote.

And while Catalans are divided on the issue, with 48.5 percent against independence and 44.3 percent in favour according to the latest poll by the regional government, close to three-quarters support holding a referendum.

But Catalan authorities have repeatedly been thwarted in their attempts to hold such a vote, arguing it goes against the constitution and would threaten the unity of Spain.

I don’t think “threatening the unity of Spain” is an effective argument to use against secessionists seeking independence, given that the destruction of unwanted unity is the essential point of declaring independence. To put this in perspective, Catalonia has about the same population as Switzerland, and, unlike Switzerland, actually has its own unitary language. It’s observably more of a nation than the United States.

I tend to find myself somewhat bemused by the Spanish reaction, which combines contempt for the feckless leftism of the separatists and the future prospects of an independent republic with fear that the separatists will succeed. But if all of the negative observations are true – and there is little reason to believe that they aren’t – then why not support the secessionist campaign? Why work so hard trying to stop it?

I know many, if not most, Americans would welcome Calexit or an independent New York City. Anyhow, regardless of how the Calatans vote, this is an additional indication that nothing will halt the continuing rise of nationalism around the world.

Hope for the future

Europe belongs to the youth of the European nations and they know they will have to fight for it.

A EUROSCEPTIC teen destroyed a European Union flag while furiously addressing the Polish parliament over its membership of the political project. The teen declared the EU is a replica of the dictatorship of the Soviet Union but under a blue banner, as his audience applauded his speech.

The boy, Michal Cywinski, was speaking at a children’s parliamentary session, for children’s day, in Poland, this year’s topic: “De-Communizing Public Spheres”.

“We find ourselves in the Sejm of the Polish Republic. In this place, where on a daily basis those who are responsible for our state’s functioning are in session. We sit in the same place as the people who took us out from under the Soviet banner and put us under the blue banner of the European Union. They took us out from under the Soviet banner and put us under the blue banner of the European Union. Under their dictatorship of political correctness, hundreds of people die, run over by trucks, blown up by explosives or are shot to death by extremists, who were imported by the leftist rabble in Brussels.

“Today the communists are not red, today’s communists are blue. Furthermore, I believe that the European Union must be destroyed.”

At this point, young Michal proceeds to hold aloft a print of the European Union’s blue flag, before ripping it to shreds.

This is indicative of a massive shift in public opinion among the young from 15 years ago. The youth of the European nations used to be hugely in favor of the EU. Now, being the primary victims of multiculturalism, diversity, and vibrancy, they are its most fervent opponents.

Nice to see a correct reference to Cato as well. I would not be surprised if we hear this young man’s name in the future.

Self-determination in Spain

Catalonia threatens instant secession if Spain prevents an independence vote:

Spain’s Attorney General José Manuel Maza is set to examine the legality of a plan outlined by the regional government of Catalonia to activate immediate secession from Spain if the central government in Madrid stops it from holding a vote on independence – something it is planning on doing in September or October of this year.

The independence mechanism is detailed in a secret draft version of legislation being prepared by the Generalitat, the Catalan regional government, and to which EL PAÍS has had access.

The text ignore issues of enormous importance including if Catalonia would be an EU member

Speaking about the document on Spanish national broadcaster TVE, Maza described the text as “surprising” and “strange” in a country governed by “the rule of law,” but refused be drawn on legal issues related to the document, saying he had not yet had time to study the draft. He said however, that he would meet with fellow prosecutors on Monday to examine its legal status.

The document aims to work as a provisional Catalan Constitution that, according to the text, would be in place during the two-month period that the parliament would have to begin a process that would culminate in the “parliamentary republic” of Catalonia.

“If the Spanish state effectively impedes the holding of a referendum, this law will enter into effect in a complete and immediate manner when the [regional] parliament has verified such an impediment,” the draft legislation reads.

Catalonia has been on a collision course with the Popular Party (PP) government in Madrid for months now, due to its insistence on holding an official vote on its future. The central government is fiercely opposed to any such referendum, or indeed independence for the northeastern region, and already maneuvered to prevent such a plebiscite from taking place in November 2014. However, officials in the regional government still organized a vote – albeit an unofficial one the result of which was not recognized by international observers – which saw citizens vote in favor of a breakaway from the rest of Spain.

I think the huge list of secessionist movements across Europe has to do with two things. First, the EU. Since the EU is now the true governing power, the regional governments see no reason to tolerate the national governments divvying out the goodies. Catalunyans see no reason to let Madrid have the first crack at everything.

Second, NATO. Because the national governments have farmed out their militaries to the USA, they have considerably less power over the regional governments than they did prior to WWII. Put those two things together, and it means both the carrot and the stick have been removed as incentives for inter-regional unity.

Neither of these two reasons apply to the USA, but even so, if the much older unions of Great Britain and Spain are being shattered, what are the chances that the imperial US union, which was imposed by force 150 years ago, is going to survive for much longer, especially now that 80 million foreigners are culturally enriching it?

Mailvox: the next Literally Hitler

Is apparently not from the Middle East at all. The news from Austria is encouraging, and not entirely unexpected.

In Austria the coalition of the center-left and center-right party broke up and there will be a new election in October 2017. Currently, the center-right and right-wing party have nearly half the seats in the parliament already. The green party is expected to loose voters, while the left-liberal and right-liberal partie (Neos and Team Stronach) will maybe and surely drop out of the parliament, respectively. The center-left party is not expected to make gains. The big winners will be, and must be, the right leaning parties.

Usually I would not put much faith into the conservative cucks, but now Sebastian Kurz has taken over leadership. Despite being 30 years old, he has already done a much greater service to Europe and Austria than most conservatives do in their whole life. Being Austria’s foreign minister since age 27, he was the single most important political figure responsible for closing the Balkan route, thus keeping hundreds of thousands if not millions of invaders out. He is in the process of closing the Italian route and already has publicly called out NGOs for cooperating and actively assisting the human traffickers bringing the Africans over. From an Austrian point of view his most bally move was to politically break with the Germans, thereby doing what no other Austrian politician dared to do in many many decades. His recent immigration laws aim towards removing islam from public life.

The left leaning Austrian media and all of Germany’s media are already writing their hit pieces on him. Apparently, he is the first Austrian politician since Haider deserving the title literally Hitler, which these days appears to be a compliment.

Our next government will likely be strongly right leaning. It seems as if you were right, and the times are really changing. Note also that according to polls, if there was a vote right now in Vienna, around 40% would vote for the right wing party, giving them a vast edge over the social democrats coming second at around 25%. The same social democrats that have won every single Viennese election since 1919.

The tide has turned. The EU is dying. The forces that will propel Reconquista 2.0 onward and restore a revived Christendom are beginning to grow and gather.

This is the time for courage and confidence, not cowardice and cuckery. Within eight years, we will see NGOs being banned and the surviving architects of the invasion being put on trial for treason in multiple countries.

As the young Sweden Democrats say, Europe belongs to us.

Darkstream: no vindication for the establishment

Even the media recognizes that there has been a massive shift in the political divide in Europe, as in the USA, from Classical Liberal vs Socialist to Nationalist vs Globalist.

A Le Pen loss, however, will hardly be a knockout blow for populism — or a ringing vindication of the establishment.

If anything, the French campaign has solidified the new fracture lines in modern politics, which bear little relation to the relatively modest differences marking the old left-right divide. Instead, the choice voters face on Sunday illustrates the profound new chasm in the West: between those who favor open, globalized societies and others who prefer closed, nationalized ones.

“What’s the common ground between Macron and Le Pen? There is none. What we’re seeing is historic: a choice between two completely different modes of organizing a society,” said Madani Cheurfa, a professor of politics at Paris’s Sciences Po.

This transcontinental political transition is still much closer to the beginning than it is to the end. I discuss this in more detail in my post-French election Darkstream.