At the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Croatian centre-right party HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) Women’s Association, Croatian President Mrs Kolinda Grabar Kitarović said that all successful Croatian women are both conservative and members of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The claim turns out to be false. The Croatian Democratic Union is currently the…
The Cigarette Manufacturers of Belgium and Luxembourg (CIMABEL) falsely claim that there is no scientific study that proves neutral packaging of cigarettes makes people smoke less. As of January 1st 2020 the packaging of cigarettes will be neutral in Belgium. The country will be the fifth in Europe that follows the trend of making its…
On August 9th, 2019 the German far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) stated the following on Facebook: “The latest figures from the United Nations show that by now one in three immigrants and asylum seekers does not reach Italy via Lampedusa or Sicily, but rather comfortably on a yacht on the eastern route.” It is true that…
During the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award speech, President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović stated that she was born on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. This statement provoked numerousreactions from the media and a storm of reactions on social networks.Kitarović was born in Croatia, which was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. Althoughcommunist-run, Yugoslavia was independent from Eastern Bloc…
Rumours have it that the EJTA project EUfactcheck is definitely going to stop after 26 May 2019. The political debates died down, the EU elections are all over. However, we consider the rumours to be false. Why would EUfactcheck continue to exist when there are no more election campaigns? That’s the argument behind the gossip…
On the 12th of May 2019, Maltese leader of the Nationalist Party, Adrian Delia, stated in Times of Malta that the upcoming European elections are “a referendum on abortion.” He continues that every seat going to the Labour Party would be a seat in the European Parliament in favour of abortion. Malta is the only…
AWAITING ELECTION RESULTS WE REPOST OUR MOST QUOTED FACT-CHECK On March the 4th Dutch leader of the right-wing Forum for Democracy Thierry Baudet reacted to a statement by liberal politician Rob Jetten about homophobia in The Netherlands. Baudet stated on Twitter: ,,Jetten’s anger about the increased homophobia in The Netherlands is justified, but he doesn’t…
Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius recently tweeted that the Netherlands has the most flexible labour market in Europe. Jongerius, MEP for the Labour Party (PvdA) speaks of a ‘flexible labour market’, but what is the exact definition? On March 2017 the University of Amsterdam published a report in which ‘flexible labour market’ is given an understandable…
With Brexit raising tensions ever higher in the British political landscape, talks of reuniting Ireland and Northern Ireland have surfaced again. In a 2016 document titled ‘Towards a United Ireland’, Irish political party Sinn Fein outlined how the reunification of Ireland and Northern Ireland might not be as costly as is popularly believed. Outlining the…
In an election debate in the Dutch news programme Nieuwsuur, European taxes for plane tickets were discussed. If and when this becomes reality, fast alternatives are important. According to Esther de Lange, member of the European Parliament for the Christian democrats, alternatives are still not fast enough to be an option. She said: ‘The travel…