Volodymyr Zelensky - the pioneer of a new political era

How is Zelensky different from Macron/Scholz? The answer is simple - Zelensky is the politician of the future, while Macron/Scholz embody the politics of a bygone era.

Today, more than ever, the vast difference between the various world leaders - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian dictator and war criminal Putin, the collective Macron/Scholz and US President Joe Biden - is striking. Let us exempt Putin and Biden from this comparison. Putin because the only one to whom he can be compared is Hitler, and Biden because he represents the most powerful country in the world and carries his burden of leadership of the free world mostly fine. If only because he does not call Putin every night to wish him good night, like every other self-important de Gaulle does.

What is the most characteristic difference between Zelensky and the leaders of Western Europe? It is just one. But an incredibly important one. Fundamental. To the once so popular propaganda slogan of the welcomers - the seemingly self-evident "I would run away too" - Zelensky shakes his head in surprise and replies: I don't know about you, but I'm not going anywhere. In other words, Zelensky is demonstrating a radically different attitude to fear.

I do not think that Zelensky is not afraid, because only idiots are not afraid. However, he does not allow this fear to determine all his actions. Even before the war broke out, almost all the Western leaders travelled to Moscow to sit at the long Kremlin table and listen to Putin lecture about how much they have all wronged him, ritually entering Kyiv on the way. Even then, they were taken aback by Zelensky's cold-blooded attitude. How can it be that he is not afraid of Putin? We are all trembling like leaves at the mere thought that, in a fit of madness, this astral plane inhabiting, resentment-ridden man will press the red button, while Zelensky, whose country is most at risk, is not only not afraid, but is calling on everyone else not to panic.

One could even say that, with this fearlessness and the consequent lack of flight, Zelensky has created this whole "mess". In order to avoid confusion, it is imperative to explain why I put the word "mess" in quotation marks. I 100% support Zelensky's actions and I am convinced that his heroism, that of the Ukrainian people and that of the Ukrainian army saved the world, including Latvia, from falling under Putin's humiliating rule. However, if Ukraine had surrendered quickly, it is likely that Europe and NATO would have continued their efforts to "negotiate" with Putin and that, instead of war, there would have been a humiliating peace. Until the next complaints and the next time.

What might it all look like if Zelensky had fled and Ukraine and the armed forces had lost their commander-in-chief (commanding an army from the proverbial London cannot be taken seriously)? Then Macron, and probably Scholz too, would become Putin's main partners in a new European order in which both would assume the role of "Moscow's hand" in the EU. The horde would be consolidated from Vladivostok to Lisbon, as each of the EU's big players in this world order would have to go to Moscow to receive the jarlig of rule. Of course, all this would happen in a more diplomatically acceptable style, but that is essentially the point.

Zelensky rejected this scenario and plunged the world into an existential uncertainty that is causing unprecedented ethical discomfort in a modern world that has absolutely forgotten how to actually fight for something, and by "fighting" has until now understood clicking the keyboard of a smart device. All this "fighting" against structural racism, toxic masculinity, cisgender patriarchal domination, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia and other Hillary Clinton "basket of deplorables" pearls of wisdom looks simply pathetic against the backdrop of the Ukraine war.

The fact that Zelensky has rejected the scenario so acceptable to Macrons of all levels has created a whole new reality. It is still emerging, but its contours can already be seen. The old notion of successful politics is being eroded. In traditionally pro-Russian France, Macron's regular calls to Putin may still have some positive effect on Macron's image, but in the rest of the world, they evoke nothing but abject contempt. A prostitute on the phone is the main association that now comes to mind when one hears the name Emmanuel.

Zelensky evokes quite different associations. After March 1, when his video appearance in the European Parliament triggered the first standing ovations, he has spoken a lot and often, becoming a political star of the biggest magnitude. Against Zelensky, the likes of Macron pale into insignificance. To put it mildly.

I deliberately do not mention Biden because, given his age, his political background and the Washington deep state, I think he is managing very well in this situation. The appropriateness of the word "very" is open to debate, but he is certainly managing well. In any case, Biden will not feel ashamed after the war, which cannot be said of Macron, who will probably go down in history as the 21st century Daladier (the French Prime Minister who, together with the British Prime Minister Chamberlain, signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938).

There is no doubt that in the Ukraine of the future, Zelensky will have monuments in every city and streets named after him. Not only in Ukraine, since he has demonstrated to the world masculinity and courage quite unprecedented in the 21st century. I am not afraid to describe him as manly, because the era when "fighting" toxic masculinity was considered good and progressive is over. Zelensky embodies a leader who, on the one hand, defends political values that are close and important to Western people, and, on the other, recalls the almost forgotten times when these values had to be fought for in the literal sense of the word. Macron's pre-election advisors' suggestion that he wear a Zelensky-style military outfit with a few days' stubble raised eyebrows among the public, but recent trends have made it clear that real, not imagined, masculinity is being rehabilitated.

If we are talking so much about Macron, he is likely to win the French presidential elections on April 10, but not because he is the strongest and most masculine. He is simply the best of the rest, because the conservative darling, Éric Zemmour, was let down by the extreme right, which led him into the other ditch, where Orbán, Le Pen and other politicians of this wing are, namely the unnecessary adulation of Putin.

Zelensky has also introduced a new level of directness, where a politician speaks clear language instead of trying to express himself in diplomatically veiled, meaningless phrases. It is important that, in this directness, Zelensky does not descend to angry, scathing insults. He maintains his self-respect and never forgets to express his gratitude for the help he receives, even when he is desperate for more.

There is no doubt that Zelensky embodies a new political era. He is setting an example of what a leader of a nation should be. In a word, someone like him, not someone like Macron. It can therefore be predicted that in the future (50 or 100 years from now) the leading country in Europe will be Ukraine, not France.

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