10 Nov, 2025 10:12

Ukraine is too corrupt to join the EU, and the West is too dishonest to trust=

Brussels has noticed the obvious problems with Vladimir Zelensky’s regime, but would still like Ukrainians to keep dying in its proxy war with Russia

1/2

Long, long ago –almost as if yesterday really – Ukrainians were promised that if enough of them were to die in a Western proxy war against Russia first, then, in an ill-defined, probably far-away future, their country– or whatever would be left of it –would be allowed to enter NATO. It is now considered rude to mention that promise, because the West has in effect broken it, while asking Ukrainians to please keep dying, preferably for a few more years at least.

Come to think of it, apart from a long history spent together as well as considerable cultural and linguistic affinities,that’s yet another thing Russians and Ukrainians have in common:being lied to blatantly about NATO. Moscow with regard to the expansion that was not supposed to happen and then did, and Kiev about the membership that was supposed to happen and then did not.Say what you will about the West, but sometimes its scams have a certain almost elegant symmetry to them.

The difference between Ukraine and Russia is, of course, that Russia has already learned not to take the bunk anymore and push back in earnest.

Sometimes being rude is the only way to be honest. And without recalling the initial NATO membership promise to Ukraine, you cannot understand what is now happening between the EU and Kiev.

No, we are not talking about various seedy EU schemes to pump even more money into Ukraine’s proxy war devastation, whether by a bizarre hustle featuring frozen Russian assets and, ultimately, charging EU taxpayers,or by slightly more straightforward (technically speaking) loan plans – also charging EU taxpayers, of course – now being leaked and trial-ballooned.

Money matters, of course. Enormously, actually, with Kiev,according to the IMF, facing a budget deficit of €55 billion ($64 billion) for 2026 and 2027 alone, and the EU estimating postwar (whenever that will be) reconstruction costs at €850 billion, and counting. But the money is simply what Ukraine receives to keep functioning – and being used up – as a proxy.

However, there is another aspect to the EU. Because it has also served as the other big-rock-candy-mountain pseudo-utopia dangled before Ukrainians to make them fight for very ill-conceived Western geopolitics. Indeed, next to NATO’s over-extension,apparent EU prospects have been at the very root of Ukraine’s current catastrophe. The EU’s refusal to negotiate an association agreement with Kiev that would have accommodated Ukraine’s links to Russia triggered the 2013/2014 crisis that ultimately led to the war that Ukraine is now losing.==

Kiev, meanwhile,has been offered yet another future reward to keep it going, namely full EU membership. Since June 2022, it has had official candidate status. Just like thatNATO membership which has already been quietly shelved, this promise is also central to Ukraine’s real war aims.

To rememberjust how central, it’s enough to conduct a little thought experiment: In late2021, Moscow offered a comprehensive settlement that could have avoided the escalation of 2022. The West stonewalled it. Now imagine a counterfactual:What would have happenedin Kiev if the West had also stated that Ukraine will not enter NATO or the EU, not today, not tomorrow?

Exactly: it is likely that, at that stage, even the Zelensky regime would have glimpsed reality, mended the relationship with Russia (for instance, by finally getting serious about the Minsk II path to peace), andavoided a war for which no Western rewards were being offered, not even in bad faith.

Water, or rather blood, under the bridge, true.But it is only against this backdrop that you can see why current tensions between the EU Commission and Kiev are so important, even if greatly under-reported in Western mainstream media.

The EU Commission has just released its “Ukraine 2024 Report.” Formally, as a “Commission Staff Working Document”produced by the “Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighborhood”under EU Commissioner Marta Kos, this may appear to be arather technical exercise in bureaucratic scorekeeping. Nothing would be farther from the truth: this is obviously a highly political document. And there is the rub.

https://www.rt.com/news/627527-ukraine-corrupt-eu-dishonest/

>>23836008

2/2

Official Kiev has been suspiciously unanimousin bravely pretending to celebrate the EU’s assessment, as the Ukrainian site Strana.ua is reporting. Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka, for instance, has taken to Facebook to call theCommission’s output, “the best expansion report in three years,” recognizing “for the first time […] that Ukraine is showing record progress in most areas of reforms.”

Yet this upbeat summary – not to say, shameless self-praise – is brought to you by the same people who have loved to pretend everything was just fine in Pokrovsk, for instance.In reality, things are very different. While the EU report does praise Kiev much more than an objective account would permit,it still includes a serious warning. Outside official Kiev, moreover, everyone got the message.Even Politico, for instance, has noted the persistent “damage done in the eyes of the European Commission” to Ukraine’s candidateimage by Vladimir Zelensky’srecent attempt to shut down anti-corruption agenciesin a particularly crude manner. It is this self-inflicted de facto downgrading that isreflected in the report’s “notable concern” about the necessity to safeguard a “robust and independent anti-corruption framework.”

Looked at without rose-tinted glasses made in Kiev,this is a very disturbing statement, for two reasons. In diplomatese, especially among so-called “friends,”the phrase “notable concern”amounts to a sharp rebuke and stark warning: Make me less concerned, or else… Moreover, the harsh words are especially jarring in areport that bends over backward to embellish the Ukrainian record. If even authors so well-disposed had to resort to such terms,it means their real opinion is much worse again. And then, just to rub it in, the EU’s de facto foreign minister,Kaja Kallas, has pointedly praised Moldova as the EU’s progress pet, not Ukraine. (That is ironic in and of itself, obviously, given thatMoldova’s “progress” is based on massive electoral manipulations, but that falls under the EU being the EU.)

In view of such open slaps in the face, is official Kiev really as naïve as Kachka’s silly boosterism implies? Or are they just trying to feed us drivel again? Probably the latter.Note that Zelensky himself has simply avoided mentioning the issue of corruptionin his own over-excited Facebook post.

The second hint that Zelensky has understood the reprimand he has received was his hyper-sensitive and inadequate response to the report as delivered when he virtually attended an EU enlargement meeting in Brussels.There, he railed against the idea to put Ukraine – and other candidates – on a sort of probation status. In typicalZelenskystyle, the man asking to be let in and receiving hundreds of billions of euros that ensure his political survival,insisted that Ukraine must have full membership from the get-go and no less.

The probation scheme, it’s true, is a very daft idea. It cannot fulfill its purpose – to weed out insincere candidates who plan to renege on all those wonderful EU standards once they are in –because any government wanting to cheat would just cheat a few years later. Also, those standards are there for being infringed. But Zelensky is not even patient enough to think that far, it seems.

He also cannot restrain himself enough to stop personal attacks on the leaders of current EU member states, that is, in particular, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who Zelensky seems to believe owes Ukraine support. That is an interesting thought, given thatOrban has made clear two things: He believes admitting Ukraine into the EU means being dragged into war with Russia, and he knows that, in reality, Budapest does not owe Ukraine anything. In fact, it has a clear right to block Kiev’s admission into the EU, if it sees so fit. Zelensky’s response to all of the above?Claiming that anyone who dares oppose Ukraine’s EU membership is therefore supporting Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky, it seems, has forgotten much and learned nothing. He has forgotten that his country has received grandiloquent promises from the West once before, over NATO, and how that ended.And he cannot learn a lessonhe should easily have taken away from that experience: that his trademark style of insolent demands and even nastier smears is no superpower.It failed then; it may well fail again.

https://www.rt.com/news/627527-ukraine-corrupt-eu-dishonest/

10 Nov, 2025 14:16

Polish support for Ukrainians collapsing – Bloomberg

The polish president and his party has accused migrants of “jumping the queue” for social welfare

Polish support for Ukrainian immigrants is collapsing and half the population now view state benefits for arrivals as overly generous, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing a recent survey.

Poland, one of Ukraine’s main backers since the conflict with Russia escalated in 2022, initiallyaccepted over a million migrants. However, attitudes towards Ukrainians have shifted, with social tensions rising as more Migrants fromPoles view them as freeloaders and potential criminals. Recentgovernment data indicate that at least 2.5 million Ukrainians now live in Poland, almost 7% of the population.

Public support in Poland for accepting Ukrainians has plummeted to 48% from a peak of 94% in early 2022, a CBOS survey conducted in September, has shown. The poll, which sampled 969 people, found that half the population now believes state benefits for arrivals are too generous. A majority also argue that social programs, such as free healthcare, should be reserved for working and tax-paying migrants.

Ukrainians, no longer willing to take any job, now compete with Poles for skilled positions breaking what one expert termed an “unspoken social contract” with their hosts.

Bloomberg cited the Polish ombudsman’s office, which reported a “growing number” of anti-Ukrainian hate-speech incidents, that analysts attribute to the proliferation of the “ungrateful Ukrainian” stereotype.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was elected in June, has emerged as a vocal critic of Ukraine’s EU and NATO ambitions, and migrant support. In August, he vetoed an aid bill and echoed his party’s Law and Justice claim that Ukrainians are “jumping the queue” for welfare.

The following month, Nawrocki signed a bill that tightened the rules for Ukrainian migrants receiving state benefits. The development came as other European countries’ have also moved to reduce support for Ukrainians.

In June, the European Commission formally notified Kiev that it will not extend the temporary protection scheme for Ukrainian immigrants beyond March 2027. According to Eurostat, more than 4.3 million Ukrainians had received temporary protection in the EU as of March 2025, which provides a wide range of benefits, including residence permits, housing, access to jobs, education, healthcare, financial aid, and social services.

https://www.rt.com/news/627567-poland-anti-ukraine-mood/

Now these EU countries are filled with criminals from Ukraine along with Ukraine citizens have scammed the social systems from all countries. Germany is trying to send them back, because stupidly they took in millions.

10 Nov, 2025 12:37

FBI chief makes secret visit to China – Reuters

Kash Patel flew to Beijing to discuss the fight against fentanyl smuggling, according to the agency

FBI Director KashPatel made an unannounced visit to China last weekto discuss “fentanyl and law enforcement issues,” Reuters reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the trip.

According to Reuters, Patel arrived in Beijing on Friday and stayed for about a day.He reportedly held talks with Chinese officials on Saturday. Neither side has officially confirmed the talks.

The report comes after US President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a regional summit in South Korea last month. Following the meeting, Trump lifted tariffs on imports from China that his administration had linked to fentanyl. The two powers are engaged in what the US president has called a trade war.

US officials have accused Beijing of enabling the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals used to manufacture the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in America.

China has called the allegations politically motivated, pointing to its domestic crackdown on illegal chemical producers.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), most fentanyl entering the US comes from Mexico, where cartels synthesize it using imported precursors. Drug seizure statistics indicate that the majority of fentanyl comes through official ports of entry along the southern border rather than through clandestine smuggling routes.

The Trump administration has also used allegations of narcoterrorism to justify maritime airstrikes strikes on civilian vessels that the president claimed were involved in fentanyl smuggling from Venezuela.

While the administration has linked Venezuela to cocaine transit routes, DEA records indicate that its role in the global fentanyl trade is negligible.

(If you were Chinese leaders would you treat Kash Patel seriously?)

https://www.rt.com/news/627574-fbi-director-visit-china/

November 10, 2025

In Vino Veritas: Punch-Drunk Pundits Reveal Plans to Pack the Supreme Court 1/2

Below is my column in the Hill on moments of honesty after the recent Democratic victories in California, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. In the euphoria that followed, Democratic politicians and pundits admitted that they intend to pursue radical changes, including packing the Supreme Court, once they retake power.

Here is the column:

“In vino veritas.” The Roman proverb — “In wine, there is truth” —reflects the fact that people are often at their most honest when they’ve had a few.

Elections can have the same effect for some to become drunk on even the prospect of power. Partisans can blurt out their inner thoughts with shocking frankness.

That was the case this week as Democratic luminaries discussed plans to retake power and then fundamentally change the constitutional system to guarantee they will never have to give it up again.

It turns out that winning votes in three blue states and a blue city in an off-year election can be quite intoxicating. It is easy to dismiss it as the talk of chest-thumping, bar-room blowhards about whom they were going to thump. But there is a truth in the bravado.

Citing election results, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) seemed to bounce with elation in declaring that “the Democratic Party looks powerful for the first time all year.” In a moment of remarkable candor, Murphy explained his desire to continue the shutdown, admitting deep concerns about the midterm elections if Democrats reopen the government.

“If we surrender without having gotten anything, and we cause a lot of folks in this country who had started to believe in the Democratic Party to retreat again — I worry that it will be hard to sort of, get them back up off the mat in time for next fall’s election,” he said.

It is the same logic as randomly shoving people at a bar to impress one’s date.

Of course, extending the shutdown will harm millions and cost billions. But there are more lasting plans afoot if some of these partisans are to be believed.

Others were proclaiming their plans not only to retake power but never to lose it again. That means weakening the greatest single check on power: the Supreme Court. The talk of court-packing had died down after Democrats lost both houses of Congress and the White House. Now, after the elections last week, such talk is back with a vengeance.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder was telling anyone who would listen this week,suggesting that once Democrats take control, they intend to keep it permanently.

Holder explained on a podcast: “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power, if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.” When asked about the priority in wielding that power, Holder declared that the court was hopelessly broken and had to be fundamentally changed: “It’s something that has to be, I think, a part of the national conversation in ‘26 and in ‘28, ‘What are we going to do about the Supreme Court?’”

In other words, the court, as we know it, has got to go. While some on the left are questioning the very need for a Supreme Court or calling for it to be simply defied or “dissolved,” others want it to be stacked with political activists, like some state supreme courts are.

The problem has long been the focus of liberal academics planning for sweeping changes to the system. Many have called for the elimination of the Senate filibuster to force through measures making Puerto Rico and D.C. states with the addition of four new senators. Others want election and immigration “reforms” viewed as favoring Democratic campaigns.

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/11/10/in-vino-veritas-punch-drunk-pundits-reveal-plans-to-pack-the-supreme-court/

>>23836287

2/2

That, however, leads them back to the inconvenient Supreme Court.

Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.”However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.

This week, Democratic strategist James Carville laid out the step-by-step process of how the pack-to-power plan would work.

“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen,” he said. “A Democrat is going to be elected in 2028. You know that. I know that. The Democratic president is going to announce a special transition advisory committee on the reform of the Supreme Court. They’re going to recommend that the number of Supreme Court justices go from nine to 13. That’s going to happen, people.”

Carville returned to explain that court-packing will now be as inevitable as Democrats taking power. “That’s going to happen to you,” he said.

“They’re going to win. They’re going to do some blue ribbon panel of distinguished jurists, and they are going to recommend 13, and a Democratic Senate and House is going to pass it, and the Democratic president is going to sign it, because they have to do an intervention so we can have a Supreme Court that the American people trust again.”

So, with the legislative and executive branches in their hands, some Democrats are planning to decapitate the judicial branch — just in time for the 250th anniversary of our revolution.

After all, as Holder explained, it is all about “the acquisition and the use of power.”

https://jonathanturley.org/2025/11/10/in-vino-veritas-punch-drunk-pundits-reveal-plans-to-pack-the-supreme-court/