EU THREATENED BY POPULISM

  The European Union is facing an existential crisis as there is now a populist, eurosceptic Nigel Farage-type figure in every country, warned the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
   The Frenchman told delegates at the European People’s Party (EPP) group conference in Helsinki on Thursday that the European Project is “under threat” from the forces of populism, and the bloc must band together ahead of May 2019’s European Parliament elections to defeat it.
   “We have to fight against those who want to demolish Europe with their fear, their populist deceit, their attacks against the European project.

   The Telegraph said that Nigel Farage responded with “undisguised glee” that the leading Brexiteer’s threat of influence amongst populist circles weighed so heavily on the Eurocrat, saying: “I thank Mr Barnier for the compliment.”