EU Leaders in Ukraine; Chinese Spy Balloon in U.S.

Welcome to today’s Morning Brief, where we’re looking at EU commissioners’ visit to Ukraine, a Chinese spy balloon in U.S. airspace, and a Russian army officer’s admission of torture.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and 15 commissioners went to Ukraine on Thursday. The purpose of the trip was to boost European Union-Ukraine relations. Ukraine hopes to one day join the European Union, but EU member states remain concerned about corruption and the health of Ukrainian democracy. This was the first EU political visit of its kind to a country at war.

In an email, Assia Ivantcheva and Tania Bulakh of the National Endowment for Democracy described the trip to Foreign Policy as “a clear message of unity and solidarity with Ukraine; and demonstration of EU’s commitment to supporting Ukraine in all areas, from political and economic, to humanitarian and military aid.”

“Russia’s war on Ukraine has changed both the EU and Ukraine,” Ivantcheva and Bulakh wrote. “It has reinvigorated the EU in an unprecedented manner, fostering political will among member states to defend sovereignty, democracy, and EU values. … In Ukraine, the desire to join the EU and NATO has never been stronger across the board.”

The Associated Press reported that European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who did not make the trip, said “Ukraine’s destiny is in Europe” but added that “the EU accession path is a marathon, not a sprint.” As The Associated Press noted, the war—and the economic challenges it has presented to Ukraine—potentially limit the rate at which Ukraine can possibly implement reforms.

Still, recent weeks have shown a commitment by the Ukrainian government to tackle corruption, with Ukrainian journalists and watchdog groups exposing corruption and Zelensky’s administration responding to the accusations. This week, still more high-ranking officials were dismissed in response to allegations of corruption.

“As some of our Ukrainian partners say ‘we need to win the war, but we also need to win the peace,’” wrote Ivantcheva and Bulakh, adding “for them success means not just a military victory, but also building a stronger democratic system.”

Chinese spy balloon in Montana. A Chinese surveillance balloon is hovering over the western U.S. state of Montana in an attempt to collect intelligence “right now,” U.S. officials said on Thursday. While the balloon is floating in airspace high above commercial aviation traffic and is not dangerous to people on the ground, defense officials are monitoring it closely and briefly considered shooting it down before deciding that would be too risky. The rural area where it was spotted is home to several U.S. military installations, including Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The diplomatic consequences could be significant. The announcement came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to depart on a visit to China, where he is planning to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The decision to publicize the discovery appears to put China on notice ahead of Mr. Blinken’s Beijing visit. … The sudden appearance of the balloon is bound to raise already escalating tensions between the two powers,” the New York Times noted.

A Russian army officer said troops tortured Ukrainians. Konstantin Yefremov, a former Russian officer who has since fled his country, told the BBC that Russians tortured Ukrainians. In one instance, interrogations continued “for about a week” and were carried out daily and “sometimes twice a day.” Yefremov said he tried early on in the war to quit and was threatened with imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, warned that Russia has amassed thousands of troops and could “try something” later this month to mark the one-year anniversary of the war, which would coincide roughly with Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day.

Indian journalist freed on bail after two years without trial. Journalist Siddique Kappan was freed on bail after being held for two years without a trial. Kappan, a Muslim from the state of Kerala, was arrested in the fall of 2020 while traveling to Uttar Pradesh to report on the case of a Dalit girl who had been gang raped. Kappan was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police and accused of being an Islamist fundamentalist. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists said Kappan had been “beaten thrice and subjected to mental torture during custody” in December 2020.

He was granted bail in September 2022, kept in prison on money laundering charges, granted bail in December 2022, and then kept in prison on technicalities. This week, he finally walked out. Kappan told reporters, “This is half-baked justice. Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail … 28 months after a long fight.”

Saakashvili appeared emaciated on the call, and his medical team said his weight has dropped from 254 pounds to 150 pounds since his imprisonment. World leaders calling for his release include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Georgian authorities were “torturing and killing” Saakashvili.

Filmmaker begins hunger strike in Iranian prison. Jafar Panahi, an Iranian director whose films have received global acclaim and who was arrested last summer after inquiring into the detention of two other Iranian filmmakers, has gone on a hunger strike to protest “the extra-legal and inhumane behavior of the judicial and security apparatus.” He is one of a number of prominent Iranian cultural figures who have been detained after speaking out against the Iranian regime.

• Is the U.S. Military Capable of Learning From the War in Ukraine? by Raphael S. Cohen and Gian Gentile

• Is There a Biden Doctrine? by Ravi Agrawal

• Blankets, Food Banks, and Shuttered Pubs: Brexit Has Delivered a Broken Britain by Liz Cookman

Faux dining. Tripadvisor’s top-rated restaurant for Montreal, Le Nouveau Duluth, does not appear to actually exist. It had 85 five-star reviews, many of which were left by accounts that had only reviewed Le Nouveau Duluth. Tripadvisor told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which reported this story, that the creation of fake pages such as this one constitute “uncommon occurrences and do not share the characteristics of genuine instances of fraud.” The page was created by comedian Charles Deschamps as a joke; it featured photos of his friend’s basement. The top review was titled: “Can’t believe this place really exist.”