All posts tagged: nationalists

Nationalists promise Malta veto against proposed European Union online gambling tax

Nationalists promise Malta veto against proposed European Union online gambling tax

Published by skeptic

Malta’s opposition Nationalist Party says it would block any attempt to introduce a European Union-wide online gambling tax, arguing the measure would hurt Malta’s economy and weaken regulated operators across Europe. Speaking during a European Parliament plenary debate on future EU “own resources,” Nationalist MEP David Casa described the proposal as deeply damaging for member states with large regulated gaming sectors. “There have been many strange ideas when it comes to own-resources, but this is the worst one so far,” Casa said during his address. The proposed levy is part of wider EU discussions about creating new funding streams for the bloc’s budget. Parliamentary discussions cited during the debate suggested an online gaming tax could generate between €2 billion ($2.3 billion) and €4 billion ($4.7 billion) annually. Casa argued the measure would punish licensed European operators while giving illegal and offshore platforms an advantage. “A tax that will prejudice licensed EU companies, putting them at a competitive disadvantage,” he said. He added that the proposal would end up “pushing them to third countries and consumers …

Christian nationalists need to look again at their religious DNA

Christian nationalists need to look again at their religious DNA

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — In honor of the 250th birthday, many believers gathered this weekend to celebrate the Christian roots of America. As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has previously said: “America was founded as a Christian nation. It remains a Christian nation in our DNA, if we can keep it.” The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, echoed the point by saying the lineup of speakers at Rededicate 250 — most of them evangelical and Christian — is “pretty much a depiction, a screenshot of (America’s) foundation.” Whatever you may think about the role of religion in the public square today, these leaders had better check their religious DNA tests again. The religious ancestors of the modern evangelicals leading the event in Washington, D.C. — not to mention the Catholics and the sole rabbi who also spoke at the rally — were outcasts in 1776. Much of the criticism of the event Sunday (May 17) has been that it conflicts with separation of church and state (and it does). But I want …

Christian nationalists pray for a return to America’s “Christian roots”

Christian nationalists pray for a return to America’s “Christian roots”

Published by Sam Flores

Thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday for “Rededicate 250,” a massive 8-hour prayer rally blending worship music, patriotic imagery, political figures and prominent Christian leaders in an event supporters described as spiritual renewal and critics viewed as another step toward the normalization of Christian nationalism in American politics. This included a conservative author who believes that God “raised up” President Trump to “build the ballroom.” checking in for a brief moment on the Rededicate 250 blasphemy fest and yep, it’s beyond parody pic.twitter.com/4peT5WPnUL — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 17, 2026 The event, tied to upcoming celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, featured speakers repeatedly invoking themes about restoring America’s “Christian roots” and reaffirming the United States as “One Nation Under God.” Organizers, called Freedom 250, framed the gathering as a national rededication of the country to God through prayer, worship and public faith. The lineup included Trump allies and administration figures alongside influential evangelical and Catholic leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former HHS Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, pastor Paula …

Trump’s assigned verse in Bible marathon is red meat for Christian nationalists

Trump’s assigned verse in Bible marathon is red meat for Christian nationalists

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — On Tuesday (April 21), President Donald Trump will publicly read from the Bible. It won’t be any lines from “Pulp Fiction,” but it’s still theatrics. And the choice of text for him shows he remains at the center of Christian nationalist visions, even as he personally avoids church. On Sunday morning, the weeklong project “America Reads the Bible” kicked off, in the beginning, with Genesis 1. The effort to read through the entire Protestant canon of the Bible is occurring inside the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., and via online streaming. Trump will read a few verses on Tuesday evening from 2 Chronicles 7. At the heart of his section is verse 14, long a favorite among those pushing to codify Christianity into public life and government. “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,” the passage reads in the …

Christian nationalists are panicking because religious progressives are thriving 

Christian nationalists are panicking because religious progressives are thriving 

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Christian nationalists are sounding a bit panicked these days. I can’t say I am surprised. On Saturday (March 28), 8 million Americans of diverse faiths and beliefs joined together in streets and squares around the world for No Kings protests. The next day, the Christian holy day of Palm Sunday, thousands more came out again. All of these people were rejecting the rising autocracy of our current moment, and many of them were Christians.   No wonder, then, that the late James Dobson’s Family Institute recently published an article blaring an alarm: “The Left Wants to Hijack Jesus! Don’t Let Them.” The essay, written by longtime religious right activist and failed Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, warned that the “secular left” is out to take away “the Jesus we know.” These arguments break down quickly, however, as Bauer focuses on the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, James Talarico, and Kentucky Governor and possible presidential candidate Andy Beshear, whom Bauer attacks for supporting full dignity of transgender people and for their faithful conviction that …

European Nationalists Rally Around Orbán Following Zelensky’s “Outrageous” Remarks

European Nationalists Rally Around Orbán Following Zelensky’s “Outrageous” Remarks

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has condemned remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Budapest says amounted to a threat against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Responding to comments made during a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, Szijjártó said the statement was “beyond every limit” and reflected what he described as “the kind of ‘culture’ coming from Kyiv.” “This is the man Brussels admires and the country they want to fast-track into the European Union,” Szijjártó said. “No one can threaten Hungary or its prime minister. No one can blackmail us just because we refuse to pay the price of Ukraine’s war and refuse to accept higher energy prices because of Ukraine.” Zelensky had been speaking to compatriots about the proposed €90 billion European funding package for Ukraine, and warned that a single EU leader should not block the measure, widely interpreted as meaning Viktor Orbán. “We hope that in the European Union, one person will not block the 90 billion [euros]. Otherwise, we will give this person’s …

Europe’s nationalists head to Washington – POLITICO

Europe’s nationalists head to Washington – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Johnson is the star attraction. But the conference is otherwise more of a low-wattage affair, with secondary speakers like recent Romanian presidential candidate George Simion and largely mid-ranking officials from Austria, Belgium, Georgia, Cyprus, Croatia, Serbia and Germany. There are no listed speakers from the Trump administration. A White House spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.  For the Europeans, it’s a chance to bask in the success of a kindred party at the peak of its power — and maybe have a little Trumpian aura rub off on them. “The MAGA movement is extremely important for Romanians, especially for the conservative-patriotic side, those who identify with MAGA values and policies,” said Simion, who is the leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, which has a big polling lead over centrist rivals, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. He said he looked forward to seeing Johnson, whom he met at Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025 and called “one of our friends in Washington.” Luna has cultivated ties with like-minded European lawmakers, as …

Corsican nationalist’s assassination spotlights criminals’ grip on island

Corsican nationalist’s assassination spotlights criminals’ grip on island

Published by Sam Flores

Alain Orsoni in Paris, May 1, 2006. STÉPHANE LAVOUÉ/PASCO&CO The latest murder is irrefutable evidence of the criminal grip on Corsica and a spectacular challenge to the authorities tasked with maintaining order. While the entire judicial hierarchy and the highest-ranking police and gendarmerie officials on the island gathered on Monday, January 12, in Bastia for the formal opening of a new appeals court, Alain Orsoni, a key figure in the island’s nationalist history, was killed at his mother’s funeral in the family village of Vero, in the south of the island. The newly created National Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime immediately joined the case, alongside the Marseille-based interregional force specializing in the fight against criminal gangs. Shortly after 4:30 pm, before the gathered family, the priest was conducting the final rites of Orsoni’s mother’s burial. Then, according to Ajaccio Prosecutor Nicolas Septe, Orsoni stepped slightly aside before suddenly collapsing. The prosecutor said the victim had been fatally shot from a long distance of “several hundred meters” and that only one bullet appeared to have been …