The foolish leader of the EU has struck again.

Α European Commission directive from May 2025, gave Ireland two months to implement hate speech laws or face legal action, tied to the EU’s broader push against “race-based violence and hate,” reflecting a contentious expansion of regulatory power under Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership since 2019.

Historical tensions resurface with the post’s implication of EU overreach, echoing Polish leader Jarosław Kaczyński’s 2021 claim of a “German Fourth Reich,” a term historically linked to the Holy Roman Empire but controversially extended to modern EU federalism, highlighting ongoing sovereignty debates.

Ireland’s existing Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, which criminalizes incitement to hatred based on race or religion, provides a legal basis for compliance, yet public resistance (e.g., Irish Freedom Party’s stance) suggests a cultural clash, with no peer-reviewed data yet quantifying the law’s impact on free speech.