“In the spring, a presidential election awaits in Russia, the result of which everyone knows, then a presidential election in the United States, the result of which no one knows, in between a perhaps less exciting, but still important election for the European Parliament. Is there also a presidential election pending in Ukraine?”
Vienna
On the occasion of the New Year, I hope that my Ukrainian readers (are there any?) will allow me a personal note. Not just another comment on that highly complicated and depressing situation that a bloody, immensely destructive war is taking place in Europe, but a statement to the effect that we, the rest of Europe, should be grateful, eternally grateful, to our friends and fellow Europeans in the East, who with incredible courage and stamina defend themselves and the rest of us. May this winter, the second since that awful Russian attack on you and your young, democratic republic, be the last, in which you have to fight for your life. May this winter herald the opening of serious negotiations between the Ukraine and the EU with the view of bringing you, our Ukrainian sisters and brothers, back – after 300 years as prisoners of Russia – to your European family. May this winter be the beginning of the end of the Russian empire, whatever its clothing its terrible history, tsarist, communist or now fascist.
In immediate terms, our world is one to despair of — with wars not only in Ukraine, but in Gaza and Sudan, with dictatorships in Russia and China to name just two examples, with failed states from Burma to Libya and Yemen to Cuba and Nicaragua. Is democracy on the way back? In places yes, but millions of unfree people have an eye for the good of freedom. They are waiting, just like the Ukrainians were waiting. Is the global economy okay? So roughly and better than many imagine. In the spring, a presidential election in Russia awaits, the result of which everyone knows, then a presidential election in the United States, the result of which no one knows, in between a perhaps less exciting, but still important election for the European Parliament.
Is there also a presidential election pending in Ukraine? Under the current state of martial law, it would be understandable if such an election act were canceled for the sake of the nation’s and citizens’ security, but two considerations speak for the opposite. The first and less important concerns the reaction in the Kremlin. Here the warmongers will rub their hands and trumpet that from now on everyone will see that Ukraine is not the democracy that is postulated at all. The second and more important concern has to do with the United States. Should the isolationist Donald Trump win the presidential election next November, he – who is no friend of Ukraine or Europe as a whole – will be able to claim, by the way, just like Vladimir Putin, that Ukraine is run by an illegitimate leadership clique and therefore does not deserve the support of the United States. Kyiv’s response to such misgivings may be the simple and, to the extent correct, one of not paying attention to the Kremlin’s degenerate opinions, that in any case – with or without an election in Ukraine — Trump is simply playing his familiar role as Putin’s Trojan horse in the European camp, and that Ukraine will continue its fight against the aggressor with all available means, including the significant aid that Europe can mobilize. Nevertheless, my feeling is that Ukraine needs to make that choice (which President Zelenskyy is likely to win convincingly) in order to strengthen the republic’s democratic reputation. If it is not held in the spring, it must – all risks measured and weighed – be held in the autumn and certainly before the presidential election in the USA.
If you are into pessimism, you can easily feel at home in these New Year’s days. Pessimism and whining get us nowhere and also overshadow the fact that there is also a lot of joy happening around us. Ukraine has stopped the world’s second largest army and cannot be wiped out. Half a billion Europeans are living richer, longer and healthier lives than ever before. Their safety is currently less good, but what is encouraging is both the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians and the fact that a broad Western public and our political leaders in general honor the demands of the 21st century, according to NATO’s and the EU’s so far unwavering support for Ukraine, this that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is seen as a barbaric incursion into European waters. The pessimists fear a repeat of Munich in 1938, a knee-jerk reaction to the aggressor. There is hesitation and discussion. It can be unpleasant, but it is part of democracy. So far, there is no real concession, no selling out of principles and morals. Well the same.
Allow me, from neutral Austria, where I live, but where I am not a citizen (that dubious honor belongs to Denmark), to wish you, the readers of this column in The Ukrainian Review, a Happy and Peaceful 2024. May the new year bring us a long step forward on our common European road, in the direction of our common goal, a united and peaceful Europe.
Author: Per Nyholm
