Filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza announced on Twitter that his new movie, “2000 Mules,” will be screened today at the EU in Brussels. 
“Remarkable! “2000 Mules” is being screened today at the EU in Brussels, followed by a discussion of the worldwide problem of election fraud,” the 61-year-old political commentator <a href="https://twitter.com/DineshDSouza/status/1526948209075134464?s=20&amp;t=LhgAHRZHNPQD8ncq2hDnpw">shared</a> with his more than two million Twitter followers.
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Remarkable! “2000 Mules” is being screened today at the EU in Brussels, followed by a discussion of the worldwide problem of election fraud <a href="https://t.co/81Bq1R310w">https://t.co/81Bq1R310w</a>
&mdash; Dinesh D&#39;Souza (@DineshDSouza) <a href="https://twitter.com/DineshDSouza/status/1526948209075134464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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He was retweeting Dutch politician Thierry Baudet’s post, which <a href="https://twitter.com/thierrybaudet/status/1526826267433218050">said</a>, &#8220;Today, @fvdemocratie organizes a screening in the @Europarl_EN (Brussels) of @DineshDSouza’s groundbreaking documentary on the 2020 US Presidential election fraud. Afterwards, I will participate in a panel discussion with #FVD MEP @MJRLdeGraaff and #AFD MEP @Joachim_Kuhs.”
D&#8217;Souza also retweeted the announcement that “2000 Mules” would be returning to theaters this weekend rather than limiting the film to special event screenings, which will make the tickets cheaper. 
“2000 Mules” is a film alleging voter fraud that’s been making headlines for weeks. The Daily Wire originally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dinesh-dsouzas-2000-mules-movie-alleging-voter-fraud-makes-1-million-on-streaming-sites">reported</a> that the documentary made more than $1 million on streaming sites Rumble and its subscription-based platform, Locals, in the first weekend post-release. 
D’Souza said the project was inspired by True the Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, who he claims gained access to a “treasure trove of cellphone data, this is called cellphone “geotracking,” which they believed proved “election fraud.” 
The title refers to 2,000 people who allegedly made dozens of trips each to drop boxes to deposit mail-in ballots, which were targeted to swing states including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Phillips interviewed an informant from Yuma County, Arizona, who claimed “mules” were paid based on the quantity of ballots they stuffed in drop boxes. Previously, the Department of Homeland Security had assured the public that the last presidential election as &#8220;the most secure in American history,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-sheriffs-ludicrous-voting-probe-denounced-private-investigators-question-clerks-1610743">Newsweek</a>. 
“I would get a call to find out how many ballots were brought in and if they were already pre-filled out first,” the informant said. The person kept their identity obscured for the movie.
The film has received both high praise and extreme criticism, mostly divided on party lines. DeSouza shot back at critic Amanda Carpenter, who called “2000 Mules” a &#8220;performance piece&#8221; and “hilarious mockumentary.” She said it’s “an investigative documentary in roughly the same way Reno 911 was a hard-hitting look at real-life police work.&#8221;
The filmmaker <a href="https://twitter.com/DineshDSouza/status/1526534504462045184?s=20&amp;t=6JqsYd1izi-emfbbgM-yHw">shot back</a>, &#8220;Ball State grad @amandacarpenter offers a good lesson in the limitations of studying film criticism at a third-rate university.&#8221;
The film has a 7.2/10 <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18924506/">rating</a> on IMDb.

Dinesh D’souza at the Democratic Party at CPAC

‘Remarkable!’: Dinesh D’Souza Announces ‘2000 Mules’ Screening At EU In Brussels

Dinesh D’Souza

Documentaries

Election Results

European Union

Vote Fraud

Ukrainian military commander Serhiy Volyna has shared an open letter calling on the European Union and the United States for help as the city of Mariupol remains under siege from Russia&#8217;s military.
Volyna released the letter on social media Monday morning.
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Open letter of the Commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade 👇🏼
“I am Serhiy Volyna, Commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Belinsky, am addressing to you from the besieged Mariupol. <a href="https://t.co/UyL3sEKzlm">pic.twitter.com/UyL3sEKzlm</a>
&mdash; Alina Mykhailova (@Mykhailova_A) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mykhailova_A/status/1516063383602307075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;For more than 50 days, the defenders of the city have been heroically defending themselves, despite the overwhelming enemy forces and constant air bombardments, artillery and rocket fire,&#8221; he wrote.
Following the heavy bombing, Russian forces have left many in the city stranded and effectively held hostage.
&#8220;The enemy took the city in a ring and is holding hundreds of thousands of civilians hostage. In our military bunkers there are women, who’re hiding with children, including babies. Mostly relatives of our military, who are wanted by the Russians, without water, food,&#8221; he added.
Volyna blasted Russia&#8217;s claims of providing a green corridor for humanitarian evacuations, telling readers not to believe the Kremlin&#8217;s &#8220;promises.&#8221;
&#8220;Now we, the military, are forced not only to fight the overwhelming forces of the enemy, but also to take care of more than a thousand civilians,&#8221; he stated.
The military leader concluded with the hope that Mariupol could still be saved, vowing Ukraine&#8217;s forces are ready to &#8220;fight until the last drop of blood.&#8221;
&#8220;Mariupol can be saved. We are ready to fight to the last drop of blood. But we must know that the world has done everything possible for this. Then we are ready to do even the impossible for our country,&#8221; Volyna wrote.
Mariupol has been one of the most devastated cities in Ukraine during Russia&#8217;s invasion.
On March 28, the mayor of Mariupol called for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mariupol-mayor-calls-for-complete-evacuation-of-ukrainian-city-claims-5000-have-died" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complete evacuation</a> of his city after reporting that more than 5,000 people had died since attacks by Russian armed forces.
“About 140,000 people had fled the city on the Sea of Azov before the Russian siege began and 150,000 have exited since then, leaving 170,000 still there, according to the data,” Sky News <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-news-live-russia-war-putin-nuclear-biden-latest-updates-12541713?postid=3627898#liveblog-body" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who has now left Mariupol, said on national television that about 160,000 residents were still trapped in the city at that time.
“People are beyond the line of humanitarian catastrophe,” he said, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/mariupol-mayor-fears-humanitarian-catastrophe-073625259.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> a Reuters report. “We need to completely evacuate Mariupol.”
Approximately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-300-dead-in-russian-airstrike-on-mariupol-theater" target="_blank" rel="noopener">300 people died</a> in a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol used as a bomb shelter, according to a report by the city’s government.
The bombing occurred on March 16 despite large lettering of the word “children” on the ground outside written in Russian that was visible from the air.
“Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said more than 1,300 people had been sheltering in the building,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-europe-moscow-b56759e5d40db18e94bef8e42db23e47" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Associated Press.
As of Monday, an estimated 21,000 people have been killed in the city, according to an Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-kyiv-business-europe-893384be23cf0fc1c0b9e566de372046" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>. An estimated 100,000 of Mariupol&#8217;s residents remain in the port city that once held a population of 450,000.

Mariupol

No Surrender: Mariupol Commander Calls For Help To Fight Until ‘Last Drop Of Blood’

Kremlin

Russia

Ukraine

United States

President Joe Biden intends on fulfilling his commitment to supply Europe with liquified natural gas (LNG) by negotiating with foreign companies, rather than increasing U.S. production, to fill the need.
The U.S. and the European Commission released a joint statement on Friday expressing a commitment “to reducing Europe’s dependency on Russian energy” and announcing a new partnership to do so.
“The United States, together with our international partners,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/25/remarks-by-president-biden-and-european-commission-president-ursula-von-der-leyen-in-joint-press-statement/">said</a> at a press conference on Friday, “we’re going to work to ensure an additional 15 — one-five — 15 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas — LNG — for Europe this year.”
“And as the EU works to discontinue buying Russian gas well before 2030, it will also work to ensure additional EU market demand for 50 billion cubic meters of LNG from the United States annually by 2030,” he continued.
The Biden administration plans to meet the need, at least in the short term, by relying almost completely on foreign LNG producers to route some of their product to Europe rather than elsewhere, such as Asia. As <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-us-gas-eu-where/">Politico</a> reports:
<blockquote>A senior U.S. official clarified that the promise of 15 bcm this year is actually a commitment to try and help convince companies in Asia or elsewhere that were expecting cargoes this coming winter to agree to send them to Europe instead. That would be a repeat of what happened this past winter, the official said.</blockquote>
U.S. LNG terminals are already near capacity of what they can export, and additional terminals will not be online for another 2-5 years, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/business/energy-environment/biden-europe-lng-natural-gas.html">The New York Times</a>. Since taking office, Biden has been more antagonistic toward domestic oil and natural gas production in the United States than his predecessor.
In his first year in office, Biden curbed energy infrastructure projects and production by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canadian-lawmakers-react-to-biden-killing-keystone-xl-pipeline">shutting down</a> large projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alaskan-lawmakers-blast-bidens-outrageous-decision-to-halt-arctic-drilling">suspending</a> oil lease sales in 1002 Area oil reserve in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Biden administration has instead committed the U.S. to building out alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.
Biden’s Friday announcement undermines his commitments to clean energy, as fulfilling his commitment to Europe requires encouraging the production of fossil fuels. Still, Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen renewed their commitments to curbing fossil fuel and expanding clean energy in a joint <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/25/remarks-by-president-biden-and-european-commission-president-ursula-von-der-leyen-in-joint-press-statement/">statement</a>:
<blockquote>The United States and the European Commission will engage key stakeholders, including the private sector, to formulate immediate recommendations that will reduce overall gas demand through accelerating market deployment and utilization of clean energy technologies and measures in Europe and the United States such as:
Partnering on technologies and energy efficiency solutions such as ramping up demand response devices (such as smart thermostats) and heat pump deployment and installations, scaling procurement for clean energy equipment, investing in innovative technologies and fuel-switching away from fossil fuels.
Expediting planning and approval for renewable energy projects and strategic energy cooperation including in offshore wind technologies.
Developing a strategy to accelerate workforce development to support the rapidly deployment of clean energy technologies, including an expansion of solar and wind.
Collaborating to advance the production and use of clean and renewable hydrogen to displace unabated fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions, including by investing in technology development and supporting infrastructure.
The European Commission is working to advance measures that reduce gas consumption by maximizing renewable energy generation and utilization, including by reducing curtailment rates.
The United States and the European Commission are resolved to negotiate and then implement an ambitious emissions-based Global Arrangement on Steel and Aluminum Trade that incentives industrial decarbonization and lowers energy demand.</blockquote>

Joe Biden

Biden To Rely On Foreign Energy Companies To Fulfill His Commitment To Supply Europe With LNG

The European Union has unveiled plans to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, with a goal of becoming independent of Russian fossil fuels by 2030.
The <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1511">European Commission</a>, the EU&#8217;s legislative arm, said in a press release that its plan would decouple member states from Russian energy, beginning with diversifying gas supplies. The Commission claims its plan will reduce demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of this year, and completely phase out continental Europe&#8217;s dependence on Russia &#8220;well before 2030.&#8221;
In the immediate future, the Commission said it intends to propose legislation by April that would require the EU&#8217;s underground natural gas storage facilities to be 90% stocked by the 1st of October every year. The proposal would require member countries to build arrangements with each other in order to properly monitor and enforce filling levels. The Commission also said it was continuing its investigation into concerns about potential &#8220;distortions of competition&#8221; by gas producers, including Russian natural gas producer Gazprom.
In the short term, the Commission said it plans to provide member states with guidance on emergency measures they can individually take. Those measures include the possibility of price controls in &#8220;exceptional circumstances,&#8221; redistributing energy sector profits and revenue from emissions trading. It is also consulting with member countries on the possibility of a new &#8220;State Aid Temporary Crisis Framework,&#8221; which would allow states to grant government aid to companies facing high energy costs. The Commission said that the EU&#8217;s regulations for State Aid allow members to give short-term government aid to companies affected by high energy costs, and &#8220;help reduce their exposure to energy price volatility in the medium to long term.&#8221;
In the long-term, the Commission said it would develop a &#8220;REPowerEU plan&#8221; that would increase the continental power grid by concentrating on two goals: diversifying natural gas supplies, including increased imports of liquified natural gas from non-Russian sources and increased use of biomethane and renewable hydrogen; and reducing fossil fuel use by upping energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable sources of electricity, and addressing infrastructure bottlenecks. The Commission claimed that implementing the &#8220;<a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/eu-plan-for-a-green-transition/">Fit for 55</a>&#8221; proposal, the EU&#8217;s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, would already cut annual gas consumption by 30%. If the measures in the REPowerEU plan were added, the Commission claimed that it would reduce EU gas consumption by 155 billion cubic meters, which is roughly equivalent to the volume of natural gas imported from Russia in 2021.
“We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas,&#8221; European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. &#8220;We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us. We need to act now to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, diversify our gas supply for next winter and accelerate the clean energy transition. The quicker we switch to renewables and hydrogen, combined with more energy efficiency, the quicker we will be truly independent and master our energy system.&#8221;
The EU&#8217;s move comes as both the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-announces-ban-on-russian-oil-imports-in-bid-to-hold-putin-accountable">Biden administration</a> and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-kingdom-to-join-u-s-in-banning-russian-oil-report">United Kingdom</a> placed embargoes on Russian oil imports Tuesday, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

BELGIUM-EU-HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINE

EU Plans To Reduce Dependence On Russian Fossil Fuels ‘Well Before 2030’

Fossil Fuels

Oil and Gas

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to accept Ukraine’s application to join the European Union (EU) after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a passionate speech before the body.
Zelensky formally signed an application to join the European Union on an expedited basis on Monday after making repeated to calls to allow his country to join the bloc. Zelensky’s calls have received vocal support from some already in the bloc, including the countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
After nearly a week of fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky gave an impassioned speech in front of the European Parliament that <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/1498631127409512454">received</a> a standing ovation and “near-unanimous” support from the body’s members to begin the process of joining Ukraine to the bloc. The parliament vote does not grant Ukraine status of an EU-candidate country.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW via <a href="https://twitter.com/NanaSajaia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NanaSajaia</a>: The European Parliament accepted Ukraine’s application to join the EU, calling on EU institutions to work towards granting Ukraine status of an EU candidate, thus recognizing Ukraine&#8217;s European perspective. 
676 voted 
637 affirmative 
13 against 
26 abstained
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1498709307432574980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On Tuesday, it was reported that the Russian military launched a missile strike into Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, a civilian area in the heart of Ukraine’s second-largest city. “This is the price of freedom. We are fighting just for our land. And for our freedom, despite the fact that all of the cities of our country are now blocked,” Zelensky <a href="https://www.axios.com/zelensky-video-european-parliament-address-ukraine-ed88a2e1-ff9e-471c-9a4d-92e0406ff541.html">told</a> the European Parliament.
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&quot;We desire to see our children alive. I think it&#39;s a fair one.&quot;
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was met with a standing ovation from the European Parliament after a powerful speech that caused the EU translator on the English language feed to choke up with emotion. <a href="https://t.co/kTlBGO6GEq">pic.twitter.com/kTlBGO6GEq</a>
&mdash; CNN (@CNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1498646910390972422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Every square today, no matter what it&#8217;s called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country. No one is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians,” he continued. “We have a desire to see our children alive. I think it&#8217;s a fair one.”
“We are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for life, for our life, and now we are fighting for survival. And this is the highest of our motivation. But we are fighting also to be equal members of Europe,” said Zelensky, who has overseen the war from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. “The European Union is going to be much stronger with us, that&#8217;s for sure. &#8230; Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
Zelensky’s pleas to join the bloc have gained support from some top officials in the European Union, though Ukraine’s eventual entrance to the alliance remains uncertain. Over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine’s application to the bloc could be fast-tracked under a novel procedure for adding member countries.
In a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday, von der Leyen backed Ukraine’s fight against Russia and endorsed Ukraine’s membership into the European Union. The commission president framed the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as a crisis for all of Europe, a framing that Zelensky has also used. Von der Leyen <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1483">said</a> in part:
<blockquote>War has returned to Europe. Almost thirty years after the Balkan Wars, and over half a century after Soviet troops marched into Prague and Budapest, civil defence sirens again went off in the heart of a European capital. Thousands of people fleeing from bombs, camped in underground stations – holding hands, crying silently, trying to cheer each other up. Cars lined up towards Ukrainian Western borders, and when many of them ran out of fuel, people picked up their children and their backpacks and marched for tens of kilometers towards our Union. They sought refuge inside our borders, because their country was not safe any longer. Because inside Ukraine, a gruesome death count has begun. Men, women, children are dying, once again, because a foreign leader, President Putin, decided that their country, Ukraine, has no right to exist. And we will never ever let that happen and never ever accept that.
Honorable Members,
This is a moment of truth for Europe. Let me quote the editorial of one Ukrainian newspaper, the Kyiv Independent, published just hours before the invasion began: ‘This is not just about Ukraine. It is a clash of two worlds, two polar sets of values.&#8217; They are so right. This is a clash between the rule of law and the rule of the gun; between democracies and autocracies; between a rules-based order and a world of naked aggression. How we respond today to what Russia is doing will determine the future of the international system. The destiny of Ukraine is at stake, but our own fate also lies in the balance. We must show the power that lies in our democracies; we must show the power of people that choose their independent paths, freely and democratically. This is our show of force.</blockquote>

European Parliament

‘A Moment Of Truth For Europe’: European Parliament Greenlights Ukraine Bid To Join EU

Europe

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called for his country’s immediate entry into the European Union on Monday.
“We ask the European Union for Ukraine’s immediate accession via a new special procedure,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel, according to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-eu-ukraine-membership/">Politico</a>. “Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing. I’m sure it’s fair. I’m sure it’s possible.”
Zelensky has previously made calls to join the European bloc since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of his country last week. On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for Ukraine’s addition to the EU under a simplified, expedited process. It is not clear how that process would work.
“We have a process with Ukraine that is, for example, integrating the Ukrainian market into the single market,” von der Leyen told <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2022/02/27/ukraine-is-one-of-us-and-we-want-them-in-eu-ursula-von-der-leyen-tells-euronews">Euronews</a>. “We have very close cooperation on the energy grid, for example. So many topics where we work very closely together and indeed over time, they belong to us. They are one of us and we want them in.”
The EU commission chief added that the bloc’s trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin is “completely broken and eroded.” She appeared to express doubt in the outcome of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia that began on Monday.
“Of course, it is important that the Ukrainian side agrees to the peace talks and that conditions are fine for the Ukrainian side. In general, it is always better to have peace talks than to have a fight. But the trust in President Putin is completely broken and eroded,” she said.
After von der Leyen’s statement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal tweeted that the time had come to “put this down on paper.”
“Ukrainians have long proved that we are all an integral part of the European community. It&#8217;s time to put this down on paper. Ukraine applies for admission to EU under a special procedure. We are grateful to our partners for their support and quick decisions,” Shmyhal said.
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Українці давно довели, що всі ми – невід&#39;ємна частина європейської спільноти. Прийшов час закріпити це на папері. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B0?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Україна</a> подає заявку на вступ до <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D0%84%D0%A1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ЄС</a> за спеціальною процедурою. Вдячні партнерам за підтримку і швидкі рішення.
&mdash; Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Denys_Shmyhal/status/1498224881670008832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Zelensky formally signed an application to join the bloc on Monday. The application could take years to process and approve, however, as Russia continues its assault and attempt to topple Ukraine’s government.
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President <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZelenskyyUa</a> has signed application for the membership of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a> in the European Union.
This is a historic moment! <a href="https://t.co/rmzdgIwArc">pic.twitter.com/rmzdgIwArc</a>
&mdash; Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) <a href="https://twitter.com/ua_parliament/status/1498326340591919110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Despite support from the commission chief, Ukraine’s application is expected to face pushback from a number of EU countries. Several EU officials later walked back von der Leyen’s comments, according to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/zelensky-signs-application-to-join-eu-as-round-of-talks-with-russia-ends/">The Times of Israel</a>.
“There are different opinions and sensitivities within the EU on enlargement,” said Charles Michel, who serves as president of the EU’s other lawmaking body, the European Council.
Von der Leyen spokesman Eric Mamer also gave a more restrained response after he was asked about the commission president’s comments.
Ukraine “is a European country and we want them in, meaning Europe in general,” he said. “She then also specified that there is a process [for joining the EU]. And I think that this is the important point.”

Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky Calls For Immediate Entrance Into European Union

The European Union announced late on Monday that it would enact sanctions against those involved in Russia&#8217;s recognition of two breakaway regions of Ukraine as independent entities.
&#8220;President Michel and President von der Leyen condemn in the strongest possible terms the decision by the Russian President to proceed with the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities,&#8221; the European Union said in a statement. &#8220;This step is a blatant violation of international law as well as of the Minsk agreements.&#8221;
&#8220;The Union will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;The Union reiterates its unwavering support to Ukraine&#8217;s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.&#8221;
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Putin&#8217;s actions were &#8220;plainly in breach of international law.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s a &#8230; flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putins-recognition-breakaway-ukraine-regions-is-clear-break-international-law-2022-02-21/">said</a>. &#8220;It is a repudiation of the Minsk process and the Minsk agreements, and I think it&#8217;s a very ill omen and a very dark sign.&#8221;
The statement from the E.U. comes after Putin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-russia-recognizes-independence-of-breakaway-regions-in-ukraine">announced</a> on Monday that he would recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic as independent regions.
Putin said during a press conference, “I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago – to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic.”
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/21/world/ukraine-russia-putin-biden">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Immediately after the speech, state television showed Mr. Putin at the Kremlin signing decrees recognizing the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which were created after Russia fomented a separatist war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Mr. Putin also signed “friendship and mutual assistance” treaties, raising the possibility that Russia could move some of the forces it has built up around Ukraine’s borders into those territories.</blockquote>
“As for those who captured and is holding on to power in Kyiv, we demand that they immediately cease military action,” Putin said. “If not, the complete responsibility for the possibility of a continuation of bloodshed will be fully and wholly on the conscience of the regime ruling the territory of Ukraine.”
The announcement from Putin comes after CBS News <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-russian-military-has-received-orders-now-to-proceed-with-the-invasion-of-ukraine-report-says">reported</a> on Sunday that Russian military units near Ukraine had been given the order to invade.
The report from CBS News come as Putin has amassed approximately 190,000 troops near the Ukraine border, effectively surrounding the country. A U.S. official told reporters on Friday that 40-50% of the up to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-troops-told-to-exercise-restraint-to-avoid-provoking-russian-invasion-11645185631">190,000</a> Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s borders are now “in an attack position.”
“The intelligence says that Russian troops have actually received orders now, to proceed with the invasion,” CBS News correspondent David Martin said. “So not only are they moving up closer and closer to the border into these attack positions, but the commanders on the ground are making specific plans for how they would maneuver in their sector of the battlefield.”
“They’re doing everything that American commanders would do once they got the order to proceed,” he added.
This is a developing news story; refresh the page for updates. 
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Russia’s President Putin congratulates security service officers on professional holiday

E.U. To Launch Sanctions Against Those Involved In Russia’s Decision To Recognize Separatist Regions

Sanctions

The European Commission, the governing body of the European Union, announced a proposal Thursday to renew the EU&#8217;s COVID-19 Vaccine Passport for another year, even after a number of European countries rescinding their pandemic restrictions.
&#8220;Today the European Commission is proposing to extend the EU Digital COVID Certificate by a year, until 30 June 2023,&#8221; the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_744">Commission</a> wrote on its website. &#8220;The COVID-19 virus continues to be prevalent in Europe and at this stage it is not possible to determine the impact of a possible increase in infections in the second half of 2022 or of the emergence of new variants. Extending the Regulation will ensure that travellers can continue using their EU Digital COVID Certificate when travelling in the EU where Member States maintain certain public health measures. The Commission is adopting the proposal today to make sure the European Parliament and the Council can conclude the legislative procedure in time before the current Regulation expires.&#8221;
In addition, the Commission proposed several limited amendments to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-countries-debut-digital-covid-vaccine-passport">passport initiative</a>, which consists of a free mobile app used to prove that a traveler has been vaccinated for COVID-19, has received a negative COVID-19 test, or has been recently diagnosed with and recovered from the virus. The amendments include:
<ul>
<li>Expanding the types of tests for which a test certificate can be issued, to include &#8220;high-quality laboratory-based antigen tests&#8221;;</li>
<li>Ensuring that vaccination records include the correct number of doses required to be considered fully-vaccinated in any member nation;</li>
<li>Providing that vaccine certificates be issued to anyone taking part in a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine.</li>
</ul>
The Commission also acknowledged that the use of the COVID Digital Certificate is up to the individuals to decide. &#8220;The domestic use of EU Digital COVID Certificates remains a matter for Member States to decide. The EU legislation on the EU Digital COVID Certificate neither prescribes nor prohibits the domestic use of EU Digital COVID Certificate (such as for access to events or restaurants),&#8221; the Commission said. &#8220;At the same time, where a Member State establishes a system of COVID-19 certificate for domestic purposes, it should continue to ensure that the EU Digital COVID Certificate is also fully accepted for those purposes. Beyond that, the Commission also encourages Member States to align their domestic validity periods with the validity period set at EU level for the purpose of travel.&#8221;
The Commission&#8217;s move comes even as multiple member nations have begun to lift their COVID-19 restrictions. The Daily Wire reported last week that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/denmark-ending-nearly-all-pandemic-restrictions-welcome-the-life-we-knew-before">Denmark</a> would rescind nearly all of its COVID-19 restrictions beginning February 1. “We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before,&#8221; Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “As of Feb. 1, Denmark will be open.”
Other member nations are moving to ease pandemic restrictions. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/switzerland-to-scrap-wfh-quarantine-for-contacts-from-thursday">Switzerland</a> is considering lifting nearly all of its restrictions, including its vaccine passport and mask mandate, later this month. The country also lifted its work-from-home and quarantine requirements as of Thursday. <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220203-france-eases-covid-vaccine-pass-rules-says-pass-could-be-scrapped-before-july">France</a> has also eased its restrictions, and Health Minister Olivier Veran said that the country&#8217;s vaccine pass &#8220;will come to an end, and judging by current trends, it is likely that the end will come before the month of July.” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/world/europe/sweden-announces-end-covid-restrictions.html">Sweden</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-set-ease-covid-restrictions-draghi-says-2022-02-02/">Italy</a>, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/england-to-scrap-most-covid-restrictions-boris-johnson-announces">United Kingdom</a> have also lifted some restrictions.

COVID Passport

EU Proposes Keeping Vaccine Passport For Another Whole Year, Despite Members Dropping COVID-19 Restrictions

COVID

Vaccine Passports

In what is being criticized as a controversial move by climate change activists, the European Union has announced a draft proposal to label nuclear power and natural gas as “green” investments which can help prevent impactful emissions.
“Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, the Commission considers that there is a role for private investment in gas and nuclear activities in the transition,” the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_711">European Commission</a> announced in a press release. “The gas and nuclear activities selected are in line with the EU&#8217;s climate and environmental objectives and will allow us to accelerate the shift from more polluting activities, such as coal generation, towards a climate-neutral future, mostly based on renewable energy sources.”
This draft proposal is an attempt by the European Union to find a balance between pro-nuclear countries — led by the continent’s largest producer of nuclear power, France — and opposing countries like Germany.
“Our mission and obligation is climate neutrality. We need to act now if we are to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets. Today&#8217;s Delegated Act is about accompanying the EU economy in the energy transition, a just transition, as a bridge towards a green energy system based on renewable energy sources,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People. “It will accelerate the private investment we need, especially in this decade. With today&#8217;s new rules, we are also strengthening transparency and disclosures of information, so that investors make informed decisions, thereby avoiding any greenwashing.”
“The EU is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and we need to use all the tools at our disposal to get there. Stepping up private investment in the transition is key to reaching our climate goals,” Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner in charge of Financial Services, Financial Stability, and Capital Markets Union said. “Today we are setting out strict conditions to help mobilize finance to support this transition, away from more harmful energy sources like coal. And we are boosting market transparency so that investors will be able to easily identify gas and nuclear activities in any investment decisions.”
“The proposal would deem natural gas and nuclear power as ‘transitional’ green energy sources to be used to bridge countries’ moves away from coal and carbon-emitting power toward clean energy technologies like wind and solar,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/02/business/europe-green-investments-nuclear-natural-gas.html">The New York Times</a> explained. “Nuclear power would be considered a sustainable investment if countries can safely dispose of radioactive waste — one of the biggest concerns for the German-led bloc. New plants would be considered sustainable investments through 2045 and would have to undergo safety upgrades during their lifetime to ensure ‘the highest achievable safety standards,’ according to the draft.”
“Natural gas plants would be deemed ‘transitional’ green energy sources for investment purposes if they meet certain emissions criteria and replace more polluting fossil fuel plants,” The New York Times added.
“Four countries wrote to the Commission on Monday urging it to exclude gas, citing a ‘lack of scientific evidence’ for labeling the fuel as green,” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-propose-green-investment-label-gas-nuclear-energy-source-says-2022-02-01/">Reuters</a> reported. “Austria and Luxembourg have threatened legal action if the EU brands nuclear as sustainable.”
“Nuclear power is neither ‘green’ nor sustainable,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer <a href="https://twitter.com/karlnehammer/status/1488847939833405443">tweeted</a> on Wednesday. “I cannot understand the decision of the EU. Environment Minister [Leonore Gewessler] has my full support in considering legal action. One thing is clear: Austria continues to focus on the expansion of renewable energy sources.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at<a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth"> @ighaworth</a>.

EU Nuclear Protest

Europe Sparks Energy Fury, Announcing Plans To Label Nuclear Power And Natural Gas As ‘Green’ Investments

Nuclear Power

A top official with the European Union said early on Monday that it will not join the United States in withdrawing the families of its diplomats from Ukraine amid heightened tensions and the possibility of an imminent invasion by Russia.
The Biden administration “told the dependents of staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv that they must leave the country. It also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense,” the Associated Press reported late on Sunday evening. “State Department officials stressed the Kyiv embassy will remain open and that the announcement does not constitute an evacuation.”
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, responded by <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-694368">telling</a> reporters, &#8220;We are not going to do the same thing because we don&#8217;t know any specific reasons. But [U.S.] Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken will inform us.&#8221;
Borrell noted that &#8220;negotiations are going on&#8221; and that he did not see any reason to withdraw from Ukraine &#8220;unless Secretary Blinken gives us an information that justifies a move.&#8221;
AFP noted that Borrell indicated that there was no need to &#8220;dramatize&#8221; the situation, an apparent shot at Democrat President Joe Biden.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a> The EU is not following the US in withdrawing its diplomats&#39; families from Ukraine, top European diplomat Josep Borrell says, adding there is no need to &quot;dramatise&quot; the situation while talks with Russia continue <a href="https://t.co/Br2VXdEKlD">pic.twitter.com/Br2VXdEKlD</a>
&mdash; AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1485519096255217665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The security conditions, particularly along Ukraine’s borders, in Russia-occupied Crimea, and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine, are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice. Demonstrations, which have turned violent at times, regularly occur throughout Ukraine, including in Kyiv,” the U.S. State Department said in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-biden-admin-orders-families-of-all-u-s-personnel-at-embassy-in-ukraine-to-leave-report-says">statement</a>. “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in Ukraine due to crime and civil unrest. Some areas have increased risk.”
The development followed a string of news items that broke late on Sunday evening about the deteriorating situation between Ukraine and Russia.
Biden is considering the deployment of “several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, an expansion of American military involvement amid mounting fears of a Russian incursion into Ukraine,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/us/politics/biden-troops-nato-ukraine.html">reported</a>. “The move would signal a major pivot for the Biden administration, which up until recently was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of fear of provoking Russia into invading.”
The report said that senior military officials told Biden that he could deploy up to 5,000 U.S. troops to the region with the ability to ramp that number up “tenfold if things deteriorate.” Biden is expected to make a decision as early as this week about what course of action he will take.
“After years of tiptoeing around the question of how much military support to provide to Ukraine, for fear of provoking Russia, Biden officials have recently warned that the United States could throw its weight behind a Ukrainian insurgency should [Russian President Vladimir] Putin invade Ukraine,” the report added. “And the deployment of thousands of additional American troops to NATO’s eastern flank, which includes Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Biden administration officials said, is exactly the scenario that Mr. Putin has wanted to avoid, as he has seen the western military alliance creep closer and closer to Russia’s own border.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-biden-admin-warns-it-will-not-be-in-a-position-to-evacuate-u-s-citizens-from-ukraine">Biden Admin Warns It ‘Will Not Be In A Position To Evacuate U.S. Citizens’ From Ukraine</a>

European Union (EU) Leaders Summit

E.U. Official: We’re Not Pulling Diplomats’ Families Out Of Ukraine, No Need To ‘Dramatize’

The cultural Left’s ever-intensifying campaign to cancel every last vestige of Western civilization has been dealt a decisive blow by the forces of sanity — not just in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-revolt-even-democrat-and-moderate-suburban-parents-are-fighting-back-against-critical-race-theory">suburban school boards</a> or the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-virginia-governors-race-was-won">Virginia governor’s mansion</a>, but in the secular heart of the European Union.
The European Commission rolled out a 32-page document in October titled “Guidelines on Inclusive Communication,” which featured the kind of “inclusion” that aims to exclude and entirely erase the Christmas holiday and Christianity in general.  “Not everyone celebrates the Christian holidays, and not all Christians celebrate them on the same dates,” said the document, which encouraged people to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/european-commission-cancel-christmas-inclusive-language-lgbtq/">replace the word “Christmas” with “holiday”</a> and “Christmastime” with “holiday time.” It also counseled speakers to avoid such divisive phrases as “ladies and gentlemen,” which furthers the gender binary. The E.U. leadership said these speech restrictions will help create a “<a href="https://twitter.com/helenadalli/status/1452983864591257604">union of equality</a>.”
The guidelines were <a href="https://aleteia.org/2021/12/06/pope-avoiding-the-word-christmas-to-be-inclusive-echoes-dictatorships/">published</a> by an Italian journal, il Giornale, on the first Monday of Advent, touching off massive popular backlash across the supranational governing body’s 27 member states.
They also offended the E.U.’s most conspicuous Christian spokesman, Pope Francis, who <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-12/pope-the-eu-document-on-christmas-is-anachronistic.html">likened</a> the attempt to erase Christianity and Christian holidays to Nazi and Communist totalitarian regimes of the recent past. “In history many, many dictatorships have tried to do so. Think of Napoleon: from there &#8230; Think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one.”
The E.U. document, he said, is “an anachronism” that reads like “watered-down secularism, distilled water.”
“Be careful not to be vehicles of ideological colonization,” he told E.U. leaders, because politically correct language <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-is-critical-race-theory-breaking-down-the-ideology-thats-hitting-schools-across-the-country">imported from U.S. academics</a> “could end up dividing the countries and [causing] the European Union to fail.”
The secular Eurocrats repealed the document within one day of the Italian press story. Helena Dalli, the EU Commissioner for Equality (as Orwellian a title as any), <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249797/pope-francis-eu-commission-guide-discouraging-word-christmas-was-an-anachronism">said</a> the language-regulating diktat is “not a mature document and does not meet all Commission quality standards. The guidelines clearly need more work. I therefore withdraw the guidelines and will work further on this document.”
These guidelines represent only the most recent attempt to strip out Christian morality out of European society from the top down. The results sometimes result in ludicrous statements. For example in 2019, a British court ruled that a <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2019/10/belief-in-genesis-127-is-incompatible-with-human-dignity-court/">belief in the Book of Genesis is “incompatible with human dignity.”</a> The statement came in a ruling against a Christian doctor who refused to use a transgender individual’s preferred pronouns based on his belief in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A27&amp;version=KJV">Genesis 1:27</a>, which states, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” The judges ruled that “belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism, and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others.”
The Carter Center, founded by one-term president and long-term Baptist teacher <a href="http://therightswriter.com/2005/11/a-failed-former-president/">Jimmy Carter</a>, <a href="https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/human_rights/universal-declaration-human-rights-scriptually-annotated.pdf">quotes</a> the verse in question in its “Scripturally Annotated Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The document states, “The moral status of human beings is exalted, in large part due to the declaration first made in Genesis 1 that human beings are made in the divine image.”
While Pope Francis — who has never been bashful about bashing his opponents — may sound overly negative in his response to these guidelines, he has spent his pontificate encouraging ever-secularizing Europe to rediscover its Christian roots, which lie at the heart of the E.U. and form the basis of human rights in general. “The European Union must take in hand the ideals of the [E.U.’s] founding fathers,” he <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-12/pope-the-eu-document-on-christmas-is-anachronistic.html">said</a> in response to the guidelines.
He sounded a similar theme during the celebration of the Treaty of Rome’s 60th anniversary in March 2017. At that time, he said that Europe had historically embraced “a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity, as something more than simply a sum of rights to defend or claims to advance.” As this writer has <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2017/03/pope-francis-on-employment-subsidiarity-and-the-soul-of-the-eu/">noted</a>:
<blockquote>Emphasizing faith was particularly appropriate, given that the Treaty of Rome was signed on March 25, 1957. March 25 was formerly New Year’s Day in much of Europe (including in the United States, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/03/22/march-happy-colonial-new-year/L0MrkQc47SiUu1OHVJt1lI/story.html">until 1752</a>), because, as the <a href="https://oca.org/saints/lives/2012/03/25/100884-the-annunciation-of-our-most-holy-lady-the-theotokos-and-ever-vi">Feast of the Annunciation</a>, it marked the first moment of Christ’s Incarnation and the <a href="https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/incarnation">salvation</a> of the world. The EU flag of 12 stars on a blue field – adopted on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Immaculate_Conception">December 8</a>, 1955 – is said to have been <a href="http://aleteia.org/2014/08/27/is-the-eus-flag-really-a-marian-emblem-with-the-central-figure-removed/">inspired</a> by Marian imagery. Yet four decades later, the EU agonized over whether to acknowledge Christianity as a part of its history.</blockquote>
His words came months after the leaders of the world’s two largest churches — Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church — issued a joint statement warning of <a href="https://therightswriter.com/2017/02/ignoring-faith-and-human-dignity-leaves-europe-adrift-joint-catholic-orthodox-statement/">“unprecedented” global persecution of Christians</a>:
<blockquote>The constitutions of our States guarantee the fundamental rights of the human person. Nevertheless, in our societies, forces are always at work to marginalise or even erase religions and their message from the public space. … [T]he personalist Christian vision of humanity is a minority view in relation to a dominant discourse that promotes hedonistic individualism, which ignores the notions of objective truth and common good.</blockquote>
Modern secularism, which ignores &#8220;the importance of the religious element in human culture can lead to unacceptable instances of discrimination or persecution in our societies, even as they strive to be open,&#8221; they wrote. They <a href="https://www.ecupatria.org/2017/01/16/message-of-the-fifth-european-catholic-orthodox-forum/">warned</a> that European societies engage in “more subtle forms of discrimination against believers,” which take place “when [the faithful] are excluded from certain roles or professions, when <a href="https://stream.org/sweden-rules-pro-life-midwife-free-market-solution/">their right to conscientious objection</a> is disregarded, or when persons who request counselling when faced with the choice of performing an abortion have that request denied.”
“Secular Europe is deeply rooted in our Christian traditions, which have provided it with its universalist vision, its notion of the dignity of the human person and its moral principles,” they concluded. “If you are cut off from your roots, you will come adrift.”
The production of this European Commission document indicates that the E.U. failed to heed their prophetic warning five years ago. But the public reaction proves that enough people in Europe still heed the calls of an inner voice that continually calls them back to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A6&amp;version=KJV">the Truth</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Readers-Pass—Johnson—How-Europeans-Won-This-Year’s-War-On-Christmas

How Europeans Won This Year’s War On Christmas

Christianity

Christmas

Pope Francis

Readers Pass

In a recently leaked guidance titled “Union of Equality,” European Union leaders advised members to “avoid assuming that everyone is Christian” during the Christmas season. To that end, the 30-page document, released by the EU equality commissioner, Helena Dalli, in late October, advised staff, “Not everyone celebrates the Christian holidays, and not all Christians celebrate them on the same dates.” Instead of saying, “Christmas time,” it instead recommended saying, “Holiday times.”
The guidelines also said members should try to avoid using names like “Maria and John” that originate in Christianity, and instead incorporate multicultural options like “Malika and Julio.”
In the face of widespread outcry and the censure of international figures, EU leadership backtracked. Dalli issued a <a href="https://twitter.com/helenadalli/status/1465639346103533573?s=20">public apology</a> on November 30, saying,  “The guidelines clearly need more work. I therefore withdraw the guidelines and will work further on this document.&#8221;
Still, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-12/pope-the-eu-document-on-christmas-is-anachronistic.html">blasted</a> the recommendations during a Dec. 6 papal press conference on a flight back to Rome, calling them an “anachronism” of “watered-down secularism.”
“In history many, many dictatorships have tried to do so,” he said of governments stripping religious language, adding, “Think of Napoleon: from there&#8230; Think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one.”
The pope went on to characterize the erasure of specifically Christian terms as “ideological colonization.”
<blockquote>But this makes me think of something, talking about the European Union, which I believe is necessary: the European Union must take in hand the ideals of the founding fathers, which were ideals of unity, of greatness, and be careful not to take the path of ideological colonisation. This could end up dividing the countries and [causing] the European Union to fail. 
The European Union must respect each country as it is structured within, the variety of countries, and not want to make them uniform. I don&#8217;t think it will do that, it wasn&#8217;t its intention, but be careful, because sometimes they come, and they throw projects like this one out there … Each country has its own peculiarity, but each country is open to the others. The European Union: its sovereignty, the sovereignty of brothers in a unity that respects the individuality of each country. And be careful not to be vehicles of ideological colonisation. </blockquote>
The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, also slammed the guidance, calling it a “cancellation of our roots,” and saying that such directives effectively work to deny the historical impact of Christianity on Europe.
“Of course, we know that Europe owes its existence and its identity to many influences,” he said, “but we certainly cannot forget that one of the main influences, if not the main one, was Christianity itself.”
Italy’s conservative former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini joined the criticism, mockingly <a href="https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1465303002827345929?s=20">tweeting</a>, “Mary, the mother. John, the father. Long live the holy Christmas … I hope that in Europe, no one will be offended.”

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