Why Europeans Still Welcome Zelensky with Open Arms
After the largest corruption scandal ever came to light in Ukraine last week, Zelensky was demonstratively welcomed with open arms in Europe. It’s like the mafia: Zelensky must now submit completely, or he will be sacrificed.
The Russian news agency TASS has published a highly readable article about why Europeans still receive Zelensky so warmly, despite the corruption scandal , the traces of which lead directly to his office. Since the article needs no further introduction, we will proceed directly to its translation.
By Thomas Röper .
Beginning of translation:
Andrei Nisamutdinov on the similarities between Europeans and the long-departed Ukrainian president
US President Franklin Roosevelt is credited with saying about Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza: “He may be a bastard, but he’s our bastard.” Even if he didn’t actually say the phrase, it was worth inventing—if only because it aptly describes the attitude of European heads of state and government toward Vladimir Zelensky.
The little Napoleon from Kiev is embroiled in a high-profile corruption scandal, but is received in Paris and Madrid as if nothing were amiss, because to his European Napoleons, he is “one of them,” not only in spirit, but especially because of their joint business worth tens of billions of euros.
Khlestakovism à la Europa
The corruption scandal surrounding businessman Timur Minditsch (known in Ukraine as Zelensky’s “moneybag”) erupted over a week ago, catching European supporters of the Kiev regime completely unprepared. They had to hastily develop a strategy for those whom the EU had so pompously presented as unblemished fighters for democracy and freedom, courageously defying the “hordes from the east.”
It took several days for a consensus to be reached. Then, numerous uniformly worded statements emerged from Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, and Paris: corruption is of course bad, but no one is without sin; it’s not corruption itself that’s decisive, but the fight against it, and that’s precisely what Zelenskyy is doing.
That Zelenskyy had tried to effectively disband the anti-corruption agencies three months earlier was not recalled in Europe. The main argument of everyone, without exception, was the demand that financial and military support to Kyiv – regardless of the circumstances – absolutely must continue.
There was one exception, however: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán bluntly called the regime in Kyiv a “war mafia” and compared calls for further aid to Ukraine to trying to help an alcoholic with another crate of vodka. But from Brussels’ perspective, Orbán is a perpetual Eurodissident, critic, and grumbler, allowing his opinions to be ignored. Thus, Zelenskyy began his recent trip to Europe confident that he would receive a warm welcome.
And, in principle, his expectations were met: French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed his dear guest from Kyiv with open arms. Both men solemnly signed an agreement on military aid for Kyiv at the Villacoublay air base near Paris, before rolling cameras, and then visited the headquarters of the “coalition of the willing” established by France and Great Britain (the coalition that would send a military contingent to Ukraine after the end of the conflict).
As Macron announced during a press conference, Ukraine will receive 100 Rafale fighter jets “fully armed” and “latest-generation air defense systems and other weapon systems” under the agreement, which runs until 2035. Zelenskyy added that the aid package includes “powerful French radar systems, eight SAMP-T air defense systems, six launch pads, air-to-air missiles, and guided bombs.” In addition, 55 new electric locomotives worth €475 million will be purchased, financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. The reference to financing the production of the locomotives is not coincidental, as the implementation of the rest of the agreement raises significant questions.
For example, it’s not a contract, but merely a declaration of intent valid for a period during which neither Macron nor Zelenskyy will be in power. But the most important question is who will pay for the music they ordered. Kyiv has no resources of its own, and France has a high debt burden. Moreover, according to French aviation expert Cyril de Lattre, France simply doesn’t have the production capacity to handle the delivery of hundreds of fighter jets.
So, while Macron and Zelensky may have painted a rosy picture, in reality they resembled Gogol’s Khlestakov : “And at that moment the streets were full of messengers, messengers, messengers… imagine that, 35,000 messengers!”
In Madrid, where Zelensky traveled from Paris, he was also warmly welcomed, though not as enthusiastically. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the mobilization of “a new military aid package worth €615 million for Ukraine,” which would include “the delivery of new military equipment worth approximately €300 million.”
How new this equipment will actually be remains to be seen. According to El Mundo, Madrid has so far limited itself to supplying Kyiv with outdated, decommissioned, and repair-intensive military equipment. In other words: it’s the familiar Khlestakovism of European manufacture.
According to mafia laws
The striking difference between the promises of Paris and Madrid can apparently be explained by the fact that the Spanish government is cautiously focusing on its own resources, while the French president is clearly relying on external financing to substantiate his claim as a leading European and global player. And where should that financing come from? Clearly: from Russian assets frozen in Europe.
Paris is reluctant to seize these assets, rightly fearing reprisals from Moscow. But generally, they are not averse to developing a sophisticated system that would allow these funds to be used for an interest-free loan of €140 billion to Kyiv. According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the key lies in meeting two conditions: first, all risks associated with the loan must be shared not only among Europeans but also among the G7 countries, “which naturally do not guarantee repayment.” Second, it must be guaranteed that the loan funds “contribute to the development of the European defense industry”—that is, Kyiv would use them to purchase European weapons.
And who are Europe’s leading arms manufacturers? Exactly, France and Germany.
The Hungarian prime minister was only partly right when he called the regime in Kyiv a “war mafia”: the same mafia also rules the EU. And this applies not only to the current conflict surrounding Ukraine. Consider the scandal surrounding the COVID vaccine, which cost billions of dollars to purchase and was personally approved by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Two attempts were made to prosecute her in this case, but she destroyed all correspondence in time, so both attempts failed.
Her former subordinate, Didier Reynders, was less fortunate. He was accused by the Belgian authorities of laundering a million euros. As EU Commissioner for Justice, Reynders oversaw the freezing and expropriation of Russian assets and is now on trial himself. His legacy lives on, however, as the European Commission continues the expropriation of Russian assets. This plan initially met with resistance from the Belgian government, which resorted to a true mafia trick: the Belgians were intimidated with the threat of “Russian drones.”
That didn’t help, and a new “offer you can’t refuse” had to be made. The President of the European Commission sent a letter to the EU heads of state and government with official proposals for the expropriation of Russian funds. Two alternatives were also proposed: a “recovery loan” for Kyiv, financed by subsidies from EU countries, or a “joint loan at EU level,” again with mandatory participation of all member states. At the same time, European Commission spokespeople made it clear that they should not count on repayment of the loan, as it was non-repayable. Once again, we see a purely mafia-like approach: either they enrich themselves collectively with Russian money, or they conspire, but again collectively, so that everyone is trapped and no one can escape.
That the European leadership has effectively become a mafia clan directly involved in the Kyiv regime’s corruption affairs has been unequivocally emphasized by Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry: “It’s impossible that they didn’t know where the money was going. They knew perfectly well because they were part of the plot. The money went to accounts linked to them.”
The names have been called, what now?
While Zelenskyy was abroad with his Chief of Staff Andrei Yermak and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerow, the indictment of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in the Minditsch case was published in Kyiv. According to this indictment, Minditsch “exploited the situation in Ukraine under martial law, his friendly ties with W.A. Zelenskyy, and his connections with current and former high-ranking government officials and law enforcement officials to illegally enrich himself through criminal offenses in various sectors of the Ukrainian economy.”
The text also mentions former Energy Minister Herman Galuschtschenko, who “personally enriched himself through Mindich’s efforts with President Selensky.” The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council is also mentioned: according to the indictment filed by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Mindich allegedly “persuaded” Umerov, then Minister of Defense, to sign a $5.2 million contract for the purchase of inferior body armor for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The head of Zelenskyy’s office is not named in the indictment, but recordings of conversations made by the NABU in Minditsch’s Kyiv apartment mention a certain Ali Baba. According to Ukrainian experts, this person is none other than Andrei Borisovich Yermak, known as AB in his inner circle. Although the NABU has temporarily halted further publication of the recordings, according to the Ukrainian newspaper NV, there is no doubt that corruption permeates a broad spectrum of sectors in Ukraine, including the defense sector. And the threads of these machinations lead directly to Zelenskyy’s office.
On the other hand, the NABU document contains no direct accusations against Zelensky and gives him leeway. It states that he stole nothing, but was merely exploited by an old friend who turned out to be dishonest. Zelensky’s only fault, it seems, was that he trusted his former business partner from Kvartal 95.
That’s a weak excuse, of course, but it might be enough for the Europeans to continue covering for their “bastard.” As long as he keeps quiet and plays by the rules of the mafia. Otherwise, they could find someone else to share the money with.
https://www.frontnieuws.com/waarom-de-europeanen-zelensky-nog-steeds-met-open-armen-ontvangen