Ukraine can unite Europe only by being model of democracy

Warsaw. I meet with Polish politicians—who are, in fact, longtime friends. The conversations are difficult due to the complex situation. I keep saying everywhere: Europe. Europe is our future. We will continue to defend ourselves and Europe, and we need only one thing—military aid. I say the same thing I once told the Americans: Weapons, weapons, weapons…

I speak about the absurdity of holding elections now—it is simply impossible. The Russians want a ceasefire, chaos during the elections, and a pro-Russian candidate…

Some ask: What about Poroshenko? The sanctions against him?

And I always find myself in an uncomfortable position. It seems like the wrong time to discuss this abroad while asking for support and debunking Russian disinformation. But we must respond.

We can unite Europe only if we serve as an example of democracy, the antithesis of Russia. And not just Russia. Ultimately, European societies must feel this. American society must as well. When people there call Zelenskyy a dictator, influenced by Russian narratives, we must have irrefutable arguments against it.

But at the same time, Zelenskyy signs sanctions against opposition leader Poroshenko, against Zhevago (whose son is a co-founder of Espreso), solely to restrict freedom of speech and illegally seize control of a company in which Zhevago, as well as Americans, Britons, and Swiss, hold shares on the main platform of the London Stock Exchange.

What do all these wealthy shareholders think of Zelenskyy now?

Europeans understand all this. It’s fine, I tell them. The main thing is to survive. The main thing is to withstand Moscow, which is so close to Washington. Not elections, but unity is what we need. Even without Starlink, we can hold the front.

But people draw conclusions not from our words but from our actions. If Zelenskyy finds the wisdom and willpower to finally stop playing the role of an authoritarian populist and become a strong democratic leader, together we will win. If not, we will have to rebuild Ukraine from whatever remains after him.

Here, I met with the Chairman of the Sejm Commission on International Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine Paweł Kowal, and the Head of the Polish Sejm’s Interparliamentary Relations Group with Ukraine Marcin Bosacki.

In the evening, there was a wonderful Warsaw premiere of Dziady, which we brought to Via Carpatia. More to come…

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About the author: Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

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