Month: April 2022

The Hungarian Finance Minister has warned that EU subsidies to cope with Ukrainian refugees cover only two percent of the costs.

The Hungarian government is pushing for a larger contribution from the European Union to the financial burdens related to the current influx of refugees from Ukraine.

This is what the Hungarian Finance Minister Mihály Varga admitted on Facebook. According to his calculation, Hungary has spent 600 billion forints (1,6 billion euros) to protect its southern border and 40 billion forints to deal with the Ukrainian refugee situation, while the EU grant covers just two percent of the immense costs.

Varga’s statement should be seen against the backdrop of a recent EU Council decision that allows member states to receive a total of 3,5 billion euros (about 1 300 billion forints) more this year to facilitate the reception of refugees from Ukraine. The EU decision allows for pre-financing under the Reconstruction Assistance for Cohesion and Areas of Europe (REACT-EU), one of the largest post-pandemic recovery programs related to cohesion policy funds and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).

Money laundering

The European Banking Authority (EBA), which oversees banks in the EU, has meanwhile issued guidelines for financial institutions to give refugees from Ukraine access to basic financial products and services, such as bank accounts and insurance policies.

Gunnar Beck, economic policy spokesman for the AfD in the European Parliament, said rules should also apply to refugees from Ukraine “It is important that Ukrainian refugees can open a bank account and take out insurance with European banks for the time they are admitted to the EU. However, EU anti-money laundering rules should be fully complied with.

The EBA has now outlined the flexibility of anti-money laundering rules when dealing with Ukrainian customers. Financial institutions are not required to obtain passport information to verify the prospective customer’s identity. Circumstantial evidence that the customer is a refugee from Ukraine is sufficient.

Notably, refugees from Ukraine include not only Ukrainian citizens, but also third-country nationals who lived in Ukraine before the outbreak of war.

“Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, with the fourth poorest population in Europe. The Ukrainian corruption elite is also being helped here to bring their assets to safety in the EU. Years ago, President Zelensky already transferred at least 41 million dollars to the Caribbean. How he got the money remains uncertain,” said the German opposition politician.

“We must prevent terrorists from using the existing flexibility of the financial transparency rules by traveling through Ukraine or forging papers that show that they were in Ukraine before the outbreak of war.”

The situation also creates a paradox. As passport information is no longer a prerequisite for obtaining simplified customer due diligence, it has become impossible for banks to apply the assessment criteria provided by the EBA to check whether a prospect falls under the simplified customer due diligence rules.

“The mere fact that someone is a refugee from Ukraine should not be enough to exempt them from strict EU money laundering rules. We must ensure that criminal money is not laundered through European bank accounts of refugees from Ukraine. The current rules cannot offer this guarantee,” said Beck.

Brussels to go ahead with ‘rule of law’ proceedings against Hungary

The next spat is looming between Brussels and Hungary after the EU Commission launched the long-awaited “rule of law” proceedings against Viktor Orban’s government. Hungary is accused of “corruption” and problems with public procurement, among other things.

The procedure had already been announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the beginning of April. In the course of the new sanctions mechanism that has now been triggered, Hungary is at risk of billions in cuts in EU funds.

In addition to Hungary, Poland is also facing a “rule of law” procedure. The two countries had already unsuccessfully appealed to the European Court of Justice.

To date, both have received billions from the EU community budget every year. However, it will still be some time before Hungary actually has funding cut from the EU budget. This would also require the consent of at least 15 EU countries with at least 65 percent of the EU population.

Budapest can now comment on the EU’s allegations and, if necessary, propose remedial measures. The EU Commission then takes this into account when making its decision. The Hungarian Chancellery Minister Gergely Gulyas reacted negatively to the procedure and spoke of a “mistake”.

https://freewestmedia.com/2022/04/29/hungarian-finance-minister-eu-subsidies-for-ukrainian-refugees-not-enough/

A 38-year-old man with a record in the file for Islamist dangerous persons (Fiché S) was convicted on Thursday April 28 by the criminal court in Tulle for death threats against the imam of the mosque in Ussel (Corrèze), France 3 Régions reports. The prosecutor considered that the deeds were part of the usual modus operandi of Salafists. The incident took place on April 12 during a meeting of the Salem association, which manages the mosque and to which the man in question also belonged. An argument had broken out between him and the imam over the issue of the call to prayer. “I will kill you,” the man said.

The man was known for his “rigorous” view of Islam, especially concerning the role of women, reports France 3 Régions. His behaviour had even been denounced in a petition addressed to the prefecture by members of the religious community. The state authorities were also aware of his suspect profile. The 30-year-old had been recorded in the Fiché S because of suspicious journeys to Niger, Pakistan and Sudan.

The prosecutor saw the attempt to gain control of the mosque as a typical Salafist manoeuvre and demanded a prison sentence of three years with a warrant. The court was much more lenient and sentenced the man to six months probation, a ban on carrying a weapon and entering the mosque, and two years of judicial supervision.

https://www.valeursactuelles.com/regions/nouvelle-aquitaine/correze/no_agglomeration/faits-divers/correze-un-fidele-rigoriste-et-fiche-s-condamne-pour-avoir-menace-limam-dussel

On Monday April 25, the American activist and writer Angela Davis, who was once a member of the (notorious) Black Panthers, held a conference at the National Theatre in Brussels. The aim: to discuss with representatives of different associations, including feminist movements. To moderate the debate, RTBF journalist Safia Kessas had accepted the organisers’ invitation. According to her biography, the journalist specialises in gender issues and founded the digital info project Les Grenades (feminist medium) in 2019. As she is very committed to the fight against inequalities, she seemed ideally suited to moderate the debate.

However, this was obviously not to the taste of some people. As the French weekly Marianne reports, Safia Kessas became the target of a group that published a “carte blanche” on social networks. The journalist’s offence? Not being black.

(…)

If one delves deeper into the matter, one realises that one of the people belonging to the group that signed this ” carte blanche ” is not the first time that she has made an appearance in this regard. For example, in a recent Facebook post looking for flatmates for her flat, she wrote quite clearly: “Priority for non-white people”.Sud Info

https://www.fdesouche.com/2022/04/29/belgique-une-annonce-de-recherche-dun-colocataire-a-schaerbeek-avec-priorite-aux-personnes-non-blanches/

By Vic Hughes

In case you were wondering why all views contrary to the Official Narrative have been canceled, it’s because of the Asch Conformity Experiment.

We have just gone through a nationwide, and actually a worldwide, Asch Conformity Experiment.  As implied, the goal of the experiment was not to get to the truth.  It was to get conformity.  Only conformity is allowed.

Asch showed that people will actually believe things that they know to be false if they think everybody else believes those things.  That is the point of the COVID nightmare experiment we just lived though.  You must believe:

• COVID is hugely riskier than it actually was, so any actions are justified.
• Vaccines are your only hope, even though the technology has never worked.
• Vaccines are safe and effective, although they were tested for only a few months.
• The unvaxxed are subhuman murderers, to be shunned and even left to die.
• Not wearing a known-to-be-useless mask is a sign of relentless selfishness.
• Children, who are at almost no risk, must be vaxxed, or they will kill Granny.

None of these makes sense.  However, no dissent can be allowed because the Asch Conformity Experiment showed that if one person stands up to the narrative, it is easier for the second one to dissent.  Then another and another stand up, and then control is lost.

That is why every dissenting voice must be silenced.  If one person cries, “The Emperor has no clothes,” people will see the naked truth.  And that can’t be allowed.

What is the Asch Experiment?

The Asch Experiment, conducted by Solomon Asch, found out that most people, when seeing a “consensus” of participants agreeing on something that is fairly obviously false, actually ends up agreeing with those false opinions just because everyone else seems to think so.

Here’s more, via Wikipedia:

The critical element of the experiment was that eight college students were included in an experiment where seven of them were actors and one was actually the real subject.  The seven actors would go first and agree to a falsehood that was obvious to the real subject.

Even knowing that the others were agreeing to something the real subject didn’t believe, an incredibly large number of the subjects went along with the falsehood.

Overall, 75% of participants gave at least one incorrect answer out of the 12 critical trials. In his opinion regarding the study results, Asch put it this way: “That intelligent, well-meaning, young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern.”

Getting people to believe known falsehoods (white is black) is a pretty strong psychological tool.  It is also very dangerous.

Equally critical is what happened if there was any dissent.

In studies that had one actor give correct responses to the questions, only 5% of the participants continued to answer with the majority.

As Asch showed, if only one person stands up, the sheep aren’t sheep anymore.

Constant bombardment of the narrative from every direction was critical.  If only a few cracks in the wall develops, or even one, it all falls apart.  To ensure conformity, all sources must push the same narrative.  And they did.  Since all followed along, it also means they (Big Media/Big Pharma/Big Government/Big Business) were all in on the scam.  They created the appearance that everyone else believed the lie, and great masses went along with it.

If you think this is some esoteric thought experiment, try Googling some thought counter to the narrative.  Google knows that if the first three search items are positive (such as Hillary is great) or negative (Trump sucks), a high percentage of their users will adopt that position — often without even reading the articles.  Thank you, Mr. Asch.

I was giving a speech on artificial intelligence to a major university graduate computer program with a Google representative as another speaker.  Not so surprisingly, the Google exec didn’t address this issue.

If you are wondering why Barack Obama (lie of the year recipient) and Hillary (of the disappearing email fame) are out pushing more censorship, one person telling the truth is too dangerous.  Thank you, Mr. Asch.

That is why no dissent by the heroes of the resistance, such as Drs. Malone, McCullough, Koury, Urso, Cole, and Alexander; the Barrington great three; and the incomparable RFK Jr., was allowed.  They were censored and vilified not because what they said wasn’t true.  It wasn’t the facts.  It was the acts.

The old adage “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” is true, and all of the heroes mentioned have been hammered.  But you don’t even need to hammer down any nails, if you don’t let any stick up in the first place.  Again, no dissent is allowed.

So now we know.  The whole COVID narrative has been an Asch Conformity Experiment.  So has been the climate scam, the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, and the Critical Race theory hustle…Ukraine…

So here’s the question for America.  Are we going to be governed by continuing Asch Conformity Experiments, or are we going to be free to think our own thoughts?  Are we going to be an Asch Nation?  That is the question, and the only question, and the one question that destroys the narrative.

Fortunately, while Mr. Asch showed the devil how to march us into hell, he also showed us how to avoid that fate.  One voice can have a huge impact on freeing others to see the truth.  It is not coincidental that “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

If you don’t think one man can make a difference, let me quote from Thomas Fleming’s Liberty!  On December 30, 1776, George Washington was going to lose most of his army as their enlistments were up.  He pleaded with them to stay only another six weeks.

He admitted they had done “all I asked of you and more than could be reasonably expected.”  But now their country’s future was at stake. Every man who would stay and serve — step forward now.

The regimental drums rolled.  Not a man moved.  Washington rode down the line, asking, even pleading with them to stay.  Friends exchanged glances.  The total sincerity, the absolute commitment of the man before them reached deep into their souls.  The drums beat again.  One man stepped forward, then another.  “I will stay if you will,” said a man to a friend beside him.  In a few minutes everyone except the invalids volunteered.

They went on to win the battle of Princeton, the War for Independence, and your freedom.   

Tell all your friends, before it is too late.  One dissenter can have a huge impact on getting the truth out.  Step up.  History is calling.  You can make all the difference.

For showing us the way out of the pit you have led us into, we really do thank you, Mr. Asch.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/04/this_scary_experiment_explains_two_years_of_covid_hell.html

by Giulio Meotti

“Is the Muslim vote decisive?”, the Algerian writer Kamel Daoud asked himsel in the French weekly Le Point. Yes, judging by Macron’s victory (85 per cent of Muslims voted for him) and seeing what had happened the week before the second round vote.

Speaking with The New York Times, Éric Coquerel, an MP from Mélenchon’s party who won 69 percent of the Islamic vote in the first round, said Muslim voters would benefit Macron. For Julien Talpin, sociologist at the National Center for Scientific Research, the mobilization of Muslims is “something completely new”.

On Friday, the Grand Mosque of Paris organized a dinner after Ramadan, the iftar, for Macron’s re-election. “How can a president who never wishes a Merry Christmas to the French people, in this country of Christian origins, go to the great mosque in Paris for the end of the Ramadan fast?”, some users wondered. No bishop could have said to the faithful about him “vote for him”, it would have been considered an “interference”. But the Islamic vote now dominates France.

Also in the mosque in Paris was Christophe Castaner, Macron’s former interior minister and president of his party. Rugby star Frédéric Michalak invited votes for Macron by posting a photo of his sister, who converted to Islam. For his part, Macron on Friday evening courted the Islamic vote with a visit to the great banlieue of Saint-Denis. Earlier, Macron had complimented a Muslim girl, “veiled and feminist”. And as sociologist Mathieu Bock-Côté explained, “Macron wants to send the message that the veil is a symbol of openness to tolerance to target the electorate of the Muslim community”. French newspapers, such as Le Parisien, interviewed Muslim voters after Macron’s reconfirmation: “My mother will be able to wear the veil …”.

In the first round, 69 percent of Muslims had voted for Mélenchon’s left. Votes then went to Macron (in Saint-Denis, Macron got 70 percent of the votes). Even Islamist Amar Lasfar, leader of the Muslims of France and who previously defended Sharia law and accused Jews of “subjugating the West”, asked to vote Macron.

The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris also called for a vote for Macron in the second round. The “Muslims of France”, the abbreviation of the Muslim Brotherhood, appealed to vote Macron. And even the current Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, paid a visit to the Grand Mosque to praise the conversion of a general of Napoleon to Islam.

And the votes for Macron have arrived. Trappes voted for Macron 74 percent, twenty points above the national average. In Roubaix, 70 percent for Macron. In Grigny, 70 percent for Macron. And 77 percent in La Courneuve, 74 percent in Bondy, 80 percent in Colombes, 83.5 percent in Les Lilas, 75.5 percent in Bobigny… These are the symbolic cities of Saint-Denis. Like the provincial cities, Trappes:

“70 percent Muslims, 40-50 different nationalities which take on the appearance of some Lebanese localities, microworlds enclosed within the perimeter of another religious reality and civilization. The ethnic grid of the Balkans is also not far away ”.

And Roubaix, the city already 40 per cent Muslim… In Trappes in the first round Mélenchon had made it through with 60.61 per cent and Macron had remained stuck at 16.6. In the second round, Macron at 74.1 … Among the great factors of the re-election, therefore, Macron had the votes of Mélenchon which in turn represent up to 80 percent of the votes of the suburbs and other Islamic strongholds such as the “93 ”(Saint-Denis), Roubaix, Trappes…. In Mulhouse, where the Muslim community is already 25 per cent of the population, Macron had 65 per cent of the votes.

In the northern districts of Marseille, which had largely voted Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round, it is Macron who wins. These are the neighborhoods where a large part of the Islamic community lives (30 percent of the total population of the city) and which group together a quarter of all the inhabitants of the city. Just read from Le Figaro: “The northern districts of Marseille, a ‘small country’ where communitarianism is a daily reality …”.

“Muslims are not afraid to take a political position unlike the Catholic Church,” writes Christine Boutin. “Yup ! The Great Substitution is on the way ”. And in fact, in an article on the elections in France, entitled “Algeria has chosen its field”, the Algerian newspaper El Watan writes that “the two candidates in the second round are aware that Algerians can change the outcome of the elections” .

And in exchange for votes, just to give an example, the communities obtain the necessary permits to open mega mosques. The Mirail mosque, which can accommodate 4,000 worshipers, opened in Toulouse on Monday. Larger than that of Empalot, inaugurated in 2018 and which can accommodate 2,800 faithful, or that of Al Salam (3,500 faithful), “the Mirail mosque becomes the largest place of worship in Toulouse, all faiths put together”. A 22-meter minaret that lights up during prayer. Three prayer rooms (which can accommodate 1,500, 1,300 and 600 people respectively), nine Arabic classrooms, meeting rooms, a library, offices, kitchens, ablution rooms for men and women, and even … a gym . 6,500 faithful were present at the inauguration.

“Voters will have to choose between pursuing an ‘open society’, defended by macronism in the name of globalization and universalism, or returning to the priority nation”, Ivan Rioufol wrote yesterday in Le Figaro. “France in 2050 will not have the same fate depending on whether it has accepted or not to merge into the ethnic and cultural diversity brought by the spirit of the times, but rejected by the nationals”.

Political Islam only has everything to gain from what they call an “open society”, which in reality, as Jerome Fourquet said, is more of an “archipelago”.

This is demonstrated by the weekly Marianne, which on presidential day informs us that the French advertising companies have given up promoting a book on the Muslim Brotherhood, considering the subject too “political” for the electoral period. While an agreement was reached, advertising companies JCDecaux and Insert canceled a poster campaign in Paris.

On page 217 of Submission by Michel Houellebecq, who imagined France in 2022 in this 2015 novel, we read: “Europe that was the pinnacle of human civilization literally committed suicide within a few decades”.

In 2027, perhaps, we will look back and think back to 2022 as the last chance for France. And I fear it will be too late.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326586

Polish logic has been to buy more expensive Russian gas from Germany, which the latter bought in rubles from Russia.

Together with Poland, Bulgaria no longer wants to pay for their gas in rubles even if they are dependent on Russian hydrocarbons. Both countries have decided to adhere to the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

Other EU countries have also said they would refuse to pay in Russian currency, but so far only Bulgaria and Poland have refused to pay. Russian energy giant Gazprom has therefore cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria due to non-payment, halting delivery.

The immediate response from Poland has been to maintain that it can “manage” without Russian gas, with storage levels high and demand decreasing as the weather gets warmer. There is no mention of the fact that their current supplies are also from Russia, albeit indirectly at a higher cost.

Bulgaria meanwhile, has accused Gazprom of a serious “breach of contract”, and is in talks with EU allies about maintaining supplies. It will not be easy, as Bulgaria can perhaps only gradually wean itself off Russian gas and oil but an abrupt halt will cause serious worries. Alternative supplies from the likes of Azerbaijan will not be enough.

Bellicose Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia doubled their electricity supplies from Russia in March.

Millions of euros from the EU is still being spent on Russian coal, oil, and gas since the Kremlin’s special military operation in Ukraine began on February 24 despite the inflamed rhetoric by EU members.

A website with a counter using pricing models to predict what is paid under contracts that are not publicly disclosed, provides a “best estimate” that is more likely to reflect the actual payments, but also likely to result in lower cost estimates than those using more simplistic calculations valuing imports at spot prices.

https://freewestmedia.com/2022/04/29/poland-buys-gas-from-germany/

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast daily from sunrise to sunset. The iftar, the breaking of the fast, which takes place at nightfall, is an opportunity to get together with family to share a meal in a festive atmosphere. However, for the thousands of Muslims currently serving sentences in French prisons, it is difficult to find the same conviviality, explains an inmate imprisoned in the Franche-Comté region whom the France 24 Observer editorial team was able to contact.

(…) But for Muslim prisoners in France, it is not always possible to share the Ramadan meal. That’s why some have turned to TikTok to share their experiences and celebrate the holy month on social media.

(…) Adam (pseudonym) is a 24-year-old young man currently imprisoned in the Franche-Comté region of France. He uses a phone he purchased in prison to share videos on TikTok.

“I got the phone in prison. It’s very easy to get one and use it. I started making videos on TikTok to share my daily life and keep in touch with the outside world. I celebrate Ramadan, but it’s still more difficult than outside because of course you’re much more restricted in your options.”

A video posted on TikTok on March 6 shows ingredients Adam uses to cook his iftar meal.

“Here, 90% of people observe Ramadan [There are no official statistics on the number of Muslims in French prisons. However, in 2016, the Ministry of Justice reported that about 26% of the prison population requested special arrangements during the month of Ramadan, editor’s note.”

(…) The French concept of secularism is still applied in prisons, but some special arrangements are made during Ramadan. Some prisons offer meals adapted to fasting during the month of Ramadan. These are often richer meals for dinner. (…) France 24

https://www.fdesouche.com/2022/04/28/des-detenus-partagent-les-recettes-de-leur-repas-de-ramadan-sur-tiktok-ici-90-des-gens-font-le-ramadan-temoigne-adam-incarcere-dans-une-prison-de-franche-comte/