Return of the Celts

A quote from the BBC, 13 February 2008

A project exploring a theory that Celtic was one of the major languages of Europe alongside Greek and Latin has received extra funding. Aberystwyth University's department of Welsh is tracing the roots of Celtic from which Welsh, Gaelic and Irish are derived. […] Professor Patrick Sims-Williams, who is leading the project, said the grant would enable Dr Alexander Falileyev, a scholar from St Petersburg working in Aberystwyth, to investigate Celtic in southern Romania and as far east as Galatia in Turkey.

Prof Sims-Williams said: "We know that these areas were colonized from the 3rd Century BC onwards by peoples who spoke Celtic languages. It's becoming clear that Celtic was one of the major languages of ancient Europe, alongside Greek and Latin, and that's an exciting perspective for people who tend to think of Celtic languages as minority languages. […] It would appear that most EU countries have a Celtic past."

 
A quote from the Italian press agency ANSA, 28 April 2008

Former agriculture minister Giovanni Alemanno was voted in as Rome mayor on Monday, taking the Italian capital to the Right for the first time since the fall of Fascism. [...] He is married to Isabella Rauti – the daughter of far-right diehard Pino Rauti – and wears a Celtic cross around his neck, a symbol of the far right in Italy. Alemanno insists that he wears the encircled cross as a religious symbol.