European prosecutors have searched offices in Brussels and Strasbourg as an investigation into alleged misuse of parliamentary funds by the former Identity and Democracy group raises questions over financial liabilities inherited by Patriots for Europe.

European prosecutors carried out searches at the European Parliament’s offices in Brussels and Strasbourg on Wednesday, 21 October, as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving the former Identity and Democracy (ID) parliamentary group.

The investigation concerns approximately €4.33 million in European Union funds that were allegedly improperly spent during the 2019–2024 parliamentary term. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) confirmed that searches had taken place in connection with an ongoing inquiry into the use of EU funds by a former parliamentary group.

The premises searched are now occupied by Patriots for Europe, the European Parliament’s third-largest political group, which includes France’s National Rally, Hungary’s Fidesz, Italy’s Lega and Spain’s Vox. Patriots for Europe insists that it has no legal continuity with Identity and Democracy and denies being involved in the investigation.

Investigation into parliamentary expenditure

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office opened its investigation in July 2025 following concerns identified by the European Parliament’s financial administration about expenditure incurred by Identity and Democracy.

The former group, which dissolved following the 2024 European elections, included representatives of France’s National Rally, Italy’s Lega and Germany’s Alternative for Germany.

According to details of the parliamentary financial examination subsequently reported in France, investigators are examining approximately €3.6 million in contracts awarded to external service providers, including businesses with political connections to parties represented within the former group.

The financial examination also identified more than €700,000 in donations to organisations whose activities were allegedly unrelated to the parliamentary group’s official functions.

The authorities are examining whether parliamentary resources were used in accordance with EU financial rules, including restrictions on using public money for national party-political activities.

These are allegations under investigation, not criminal findings. The EPPO has not announced convictions arising from the current inquiry, and the individuals and organisations concerned retain the presumption of innocence.

Earlier investigative measures were conducted in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy in June 2026. Wednesday’s searches mark a further stage in the proceedings.

Can Patriots for Europe inherit the liabilities?

The investigation has opened a separate dispute over whether Patriots for Europe could be required to repay money allegedly misspent by its predecessor.

Identity and Democracy ceased to exist after the 2024 elections. Several parties previously represented in the group subsequently joined Patriots for Europe, a new parliamentary formation that also brought together Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and Spain’s Vox.

Patriots for Europe maintains that the two groups are legally separate. Its representatives argue that the dissolution of Identity and Democracy ended that group’s institutional existence and that the present parliamentary organisation is not responsible for its predecessor’s financial affairs.

However, the European Parliament’s budgetary authorities have examined whether responsibility for outstanding liabilities can pass to a successor group.

An opinion approved by the Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee in September considered the circumstances in which continuity between parliamentary groups might establish financial responsibility.

Such an assessment may consider whether members, administrative personnel, operational resources and other assets were transferred from one organisation to another.

The outcome could determine whether the current group is exposed to potential repayment demands, irrespective of whether its present members were personally involved in the expenditure under investigation.

No final determination of such liability has been established through Wednesday’s searches.

Political consequences in Strasbourg

The searches come at a time when Patriots for Europe has become a major political force within the European Parliament.

Its member parties have challenged EU policy on immigration, economic regulation and the distribution of powers between Brussels and national governments. National Rally and Fidesz are also influential actors in the domestic politics of France and Hungary respectively.

An investigation involving their parliamentary organisation is therefore likely to attract scrutiny beyond the immediate financial questions.

Nevertheless, the political influence of the group and the criminal investigation must be considered separately. The presence of prosecutors at parliamentary premises does not establish wrongdoing by the current group’s MEPs.

The case also raises broader questions about financial accountability within the Parliament, particularly when a political group dissolves following an election and its members establish a new organisation.

Unlike national political parties, European parliamentary groups receive funding specifically to support their legislative, administrative and political work inside the institution.

Those resources are subject to financial controls intended to prevent their diversion into activities that should be funded by national parties or other organisations.

Further proceedings

The EPPO is responsible for investigating and prosecuting offences affecting the European Union’s financial interests. It operates independently of national governments and EU political institutions.

The European Parliament has confirmed its cooperation with the authorities but has declined to comment on the substance of the continuing investigation.

Prosecutors must now assess the evidence obtained during the searches alongside financial records and material collected during previous investigative measures.

Any decision to bring criminal proceedings would depend on the evidence available and the relevant national and European legal requirements.

Separately, the Parliament will have to establish whether any recoverable funds are owed by the former group and, if so, which organisation is legally responsible for repayment.

For Patriots for Europe, the immediate issue is not only the progress of the criminal inquiry but whether the financial arrangements of a dissolved parliamentary group can create obligations for its successor.

Nationalist leaders are framing unrest as consequence of failed liberal governance and open borders

Europe’s far-right leaders have jumped on the violence that rocked numerous cities last weekend, framing it as the inevitable consequence of failed liberal governance and open-border policies and insisting only they can restore law and order.

Months away from key elections in Spain, France and Italy, authoritarian nationalists are eager to weaponise the wave of street unrest, originating in peaceful protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services but hijacked by violent rioters.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

Nationalist leaders are framing unrest as consequence of failed liberal governance and open borders

Europe’s far-right leaders have jumped on the violence that rocked numerous cities last weekend, framing it as the inevitable consequence of failed liberal governance and open-border policies and insisting only they can restore law and order.

Months away from key elections in Spain, France and Italy, authoritarian nationalists are eager to weaponise the wave of street unrest, originating in peaceful protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services but hijacked by violent rioters.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

© Photograph: Abdul Saboor/Reuters

Farmers across the United States will soon get relief from the cost of diesel, President Donald Trump said during his rally near Wichita, Kansas, on Monday evening, CBS News reported.

The post WATCH: President Trump Announces $8 Billion in Relief to Help Farmers with Diesel Costs appeared first on Breitbart.

Leftists showed up for "No Kings" protests on Saturday in areas across the United States to encourage people to vote early as the November midterm elections approach. 

The post VIDEO: Leftist ‘No Kings’ Groups Rally Across U.S. to Encourage Early Voting in Midterm Elections appeared first on Breitbart.

The series, set at an elite tennis academy, hails from Universal Television in association with Entertainment 360 and Amazon MGM Studios.

ACP cancela na totalidade a realização da mítica prova que voltou ao WRC em 2007 no Algarve

O Rally de Portugal vai ficar fora do Campeonato Mundial de Rallyes (WRC) em 2027 e a próxima edição da prova foi cancelada para outro qualquer campeonato, nacional ou europeu.

O Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) atribuiu a decisão a uma alteração de última hora promovida pelo promotor do campeonato – grupo francês Cosmobilis -, afastando qualquer relação com os incidentes registados na edição de 2026.

“O Rally de Portugal não se vai realizar em 2027”, confirmou o ACP à Agência Lusa, admitindo o regresso da prova ao calendário WRC em 2028, porém, a organização garante ainda que a exclusão não está relacionada com questões financeiras nem com a mudança prevista do centro nevrálgico da prova, de Matosinhos para Viseu.

O ACP esclarece que a alteração do calendário teve como objetivo tornar o WRC “geograficamente tão diverso e intercontinental quanto possível”, acabando por afetar o Rally de Portugal, que se realizaria entre 13 e 16 de maio, tendo como base a cidade de Viseu.

A organização rejeita também a existência de indemnizações, explicando que, apesar dos contratos estabelecidos, os calendários são ratificados anualmente pelo promotor e pela Federação Internacional do Automóvel.

Prova portuguesa é fundadora do Mundial de Rallyes

A prova portuguesa, uma das fundadoras do Campeonato do Mundo de Rallyes, integrou o WRC desde 1973, com exceções em alguns anos, e regressou ao calendário em 2007, de forma mais regular, tendo então como base o Algarve.

Saliente-se que, esta será apenas a segunda vez desde a primeira edição, em 1967, que o Rally de Portugal não se realiza, depois do cancelamento de 2020 devido à pandemia de Covid-19.

Recorde-se que a primeira temporada WRC contou com 13 provas, sendo cada uma realizada num país ou território diferente, no caso, no Mónaco (Rally de Monte Carlo), Suécia (Rally da Suécia), Portugal (Rally de Portugal), Quénia (Safari Rally), Marrocos (Rally de Marrocos), Grécia (Rally da Acrópole), Polónia (Rally da Polónia), Finlândia (Rally dos 100 Lagos/Rally da Finlândia), Áustria (Rally dos Alpes Austríacos), Itália (Rally de Sanremo), Estados Unidos (Rally Press-on-Regardless), Reino Unido (Rali RAC) e França (Tour de Corse / Rally de Córsega).

Portugal perde cerca de 200 milhões de euros

O Automóvel Club de Portugal lamenta o impacto da decisão para o país e recorda que o estudo realizado em 2025 apontou para um retorno superior a 193 milhões de euros para a economia nacional através da realização do Rally de Portugal.

Apesar de não se ter disponibilizado para prestar declarações, o presidente do ACP, Carlos Barbosa, partilhou com a Agência Lusa, em resposta por escrito, que “um sentimento de grande surpresa e de choque, do qual resultou uma sensação clara de frustração” com este desfecho.

No calendário WRC para 2027 divulgado na passada semana pela Federação Internacional do Automóvel (FIA) e pelo Promotor Cosmobilis, o Rally de Portugal é a única prova a ficar de fora em relação a este ano, enquanto que o calendário é alargado de 13 para 15 provas, entrando os Estados Unidos e o Reino Unido, reentrando a Arábia Saudita – que não se realizou este ano -, como jornada de encerramento.

Marine Le Pen has set out plans to cut French public spending by €140 billion by 2032, reduce the deficit and impose a constitutional constraint on future borrowing, placing France’s deteriorating public finances at the centre of the campaign for the 2027 presidential election.

Marine Le Pen has presented a five-year fiscal programme under which a National Rally administration would seek €140 billion in net savings by 2032, restore France’s primary budget balance within 18 months and bring the headline deficit back below the European Union’s three per cent threshold by 2030.

The proposals, presented on Tuesday as Le Pen outlined the financial trajectory she would pursue during a presidential term, come as France faces rising borrowing costs and a public debt ratio approaching 120 per cent of GDP.

The scale of the problem was underlined on the same day by France’s Directorate-General of the Treasury. Its latest report on public debt projects the debt ratio at 119.3 per cent of GDP this year before rising to 121.7 per cent in 2027. Debt stood at 115.7 per cent at the end of 2025.

EU Today has already reported that French borrowing costs and concerns over the sustainability of the country’s finances have begun to weigh on the euro and widen the gap between French and German government bond yields.

Le Pen’s programme is therefore aimed not only at French voters but at financial markets increasingly focused on whether Paris can prevent debt from continuing to rise.

According to the proposals outlined on Tuesday, spending reductions would be concentrated heavily in the first three years of a Le Pen presidency. She would also seek to introduce what she calls a constitutional “golden rule”, requiring successive governments to reduce the budget deficit each year.

The measure would be put to a referendum and is intended to make deficit reduction binding beyond an individual government’s annual budget decisions.

Le Pen has also proposed reducing France’s public debt to around 112 per cent of GDP by 2032. That would reverse the trajectory currently expected by the French government, although the National Rally’s assumptions would depend on its ability to deliver the proposed savings and on economic growth during the next presidential term.

Among the most politically significant proposals is a plan to restrict France’s net contribution to the EU budget to €5 billion. The party argues that some European spending should instead be financed through harmonised taxes on products such as tobacco and alcohol.

Le Pen also expects substantial savings from tighter immigration controls and the introduction of the National Rally’s proposed “national preference” rules for access to parts of the welfare system. Her programme estimates that measures connected with immigration could eventually produce savings of as much as €29 billion annually.

Other elements include changes to pension policy, reductions in corporate and energy taxation, measures against VAT fraud, the abolition of more than 120 taxes and a reduction in the number of state agencies.

The programme marks an attempt by Le Pen to make fiscal policy a central part of a campaign that has until now been dominated largely by immigration, security and questions surrounding France’s political fragmentation.

The timing is significant. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government has itself introduced a difficult fiscal consolidation programme. The 2027 budget presented by the Finance Ministry envisages €54 billion in measures to improve the public finances, including €43 billion contained directly in the state and social-security budgets.

The government expects the deficit to fall from 5.4 per cent of GDP in 2026 to five per cent next year. It forecasts growth of only 0.5 per cent this year before a recovery to one per cent in 2027.

The debt burden is becoming increasingly costly. Interest payments are expected to reach €91.2 billion in 2027, up from €79.2 billion this year, according to the Finance Ministry. By 2030, total public-sector interest costs are projected to reach 3.7 per cent of GDP.

That gives the presidential campaign an economic dimension that is difficult to separate from France’s relationship with Brussels. Paris remains subject to EU fiscal rules requiring a gradual reduction in its deficit, while any attempt to reduce the French contribution to the EU budget would require negotiations with the other member states.

Le Pen enters that debate from a strong electoral position. Recent polling examined by EU Today has placed her ahead in first-round scenarios for 2027, although the final field remains unsettled. EU Today reported in September that Le Pen was polling between 33 and 36 per cent depending on her opponents.

Her latest intervention shifts part of the campaign onto terrain traditionally associated with the centre-right: public spending, debt and the credibility of France’s finances.

With the government attempting to secure parliamentary support for its own austerity measures and French borrowing costs under closer scrutiny, the question of how the country pays for the state is now moving towards the centre of the contest to succeed Emmanuel Macron.

CHICAGO: Corn and wheat futures have rallied to their highest prices in more than three years, though the factors driving the gains for each crop remain distinctly different. Wheat futures settled Friday at $7.84 per bushel, up 3.1% on the day, after hitting an intraday peak of $7.9025, the highest level since Feb. 14, 2023. ... Read more

The post Corn, wheat prices surge to multi-year highs on divergent supply threats appeared first on BOL News.