As a former actor and screenwriter, Zelenskyj is a master of words. The whole world is interested in his speeches, which are often harsh and unconventional. For a long time, however, things looked very different, as becomes clear in his first book.
If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had met Tino Chrupalla at "Markus Lanz" last week, he would probably have simply given him his new book. In the discussion about support for Ukraine, the AfD leader clung to the thesis that Russia's fight against Ukraine "is not our war." It is an assumption that has popped up again and again since the beginning of the war - ever since the world was frantically discussing the consequences - in political speeches, in open letters or at demonstrations. And it's exactly the opposite of Zelenskyy's message: "This war is not just directed against Ukraine, but against Europe."
Sometimes packed into a story, but mostly directly, the president emphasizes it on almost every occasion. Not just since February 24 of this year, but since he was elected president in 2019. Now he has selected twelve of his speeches for his first book, Message from the Ukraine. The Ukrainian president's first work is Ukraine's printed attempt, which has now lasted three years, to explain to the West why the fight against Russia is also its war.
In his inaugural speech in April 2019, Zelenskyi announced: "We have chosen a path that leads to Europe." He called this a "new era": Europe instead of Russia, democracy instead of autocracy and a life that "without freedom is no life at all". Ukraine is part of Europe, and not only geographically - the President also made this new canon of values clear internationally at every opportunity. As is his statement that this is precisely what is a thorn in Russia's side.
However, Zelenskyj fell on deaf ears for a long time. In his opening speech to the UN General Assembly in the autumn of the same year, the Ukrainian president recalled the war in Donbass, which had already claimed 13,000 Ukrainian lives, and warned: "It would be fatal to think that the situation in our country is none of your business and that it would never affect you." The Ukrainian President called for support but did little. About two and a half years later, he brought up how little at the Munich Security Conference. By then Moscow had already massed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and dozens of tank columns on the border with Ukraine. "How did it come to this?" Zelenskyj asked the delegates and criticized the "appeasement policy" of those present. For eight years now, Ukraine has "served the world as a reliable shield," he said. "Will the world be able to hear me in 2022?"
It succeeded - albeit too late. When Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border on February 24, millions of people heard Zelenskyy's appeal: "When bombs fall on Kyiv, they fall on Europe. When rockets kill Ukrainians, they kill Europeans. More protection for Ukraine means more protection for Europe and more protection for the democratic world."
Overnight he became the most sought-after speaker in the world. He addressed foreign audiences 81 times during the first 200 days of the war, speaking in the world's parliaments, at the Cannes Film Festival, at the Economic Forum in Davos and at the climate summit in Sharm el Sheikh. He always drew parallels to the war, he always appealed to the solidarity of the audience. What seemed hopeless until February of this year has now succeeded: Ukraine is gaining sovereignty over the interpretation of this war and Zelenskyy's speeches influenced the course of the war, experts assume. "Rhetoric plays a decisive role in ensuring that the Ukrainians even had a chance in this war," said Tübingen rhetoric professor Olaf Kramer in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
As a former screenwriter and actor, Zelenskyj knows how to deal with rhetoric. He has a sense of timing, adapts to his audience and reports on people, on individual fates in the war, such as a Ukrainian opera singer who was killed in Donbass. Selenskyj brings the war as close as possible to his listeners and speaks to their conscience. At the same time, Selenskyj's appearance becomes a symbol of war: the olive-green T-shirt and the clenched hand at head height - "Slava Ukraini".
Even after almost ten months of the war, hardly anything has changed in this concept. And yet there is a difference: Ukraine is no longer fighting only against Russia, but also against the habit of war. In the foreword to his book, Zelenskyy addresses it directly: "Don't forget about Ukraine. Don't get tired of Ukraine. (...) Supporting Ukraine is not a trend, a meme or online hype." The Russian bombs drew the world's attention to Ukraine - now Zelenskyy must ensure that he stays there.
Because the President's resources are limited to his words, he does everything he can to ensure that they resonate. Selenskyj's descriptions of the struggles are ruthless, for example when he reports of strangled women, rapes and corpses on the streets of Bucha. Strong feelings, sadness, fear and gratitude run through his speeches, often only a comma apart. Selenskyj makes extreme demands, such as a no-fly zone, and expresses harsh criticism. This became particularly clear when he asked the German members of the Bundestag directly: "Why do so many other states support us more resolutely than you?"
Zelenskyj's historical comparisons also go to the core. He calls Nord Stream 2 "a new wall in Europe" before the Bundestag, reminds of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 before the US Parliament and about the defense against Nazi Germany before the British House of Commons. By comparing the darkest moments of those countries to the Russian war against his country, Zelenskyy creates a kind of shared memory and creates solidarity. However, not always with the necessary sensitivity. When he compares the Russian attack in front of the Israeli Knesset with the Holocaust, criticism rains down.
Selenskyj's speeches are mostly not very statesmanlike, which is probably due to the fact that the president was a comedian on stage four years ago. At the beginning of the book, journalist Arkady Ostrovsky describes the president's behavior when he is in need, he makes a virtue out of it. Zelenskyj seems like "an ordinary man pushed into extraordinary circumstances" - just like all the Ukrainians who now find themselves with guns in their hands and have to defend their country.
This becomes particularly clear in the 32 seconds that Zelenskyj speaks into his mobile phone on the evening of February 25: "We are here," said the president in the selfie video that shows him in the middle of Kyiv. "Our soldiers are here. The citizens are here. We are all here defending our independence. And that's how it will stay." Ostrovsky describes this as the President's most important speech, but it does not appear in the book. Since this video, Selenskyj has been speaking to Ukrainian citizens almost every evening, reminding them of their successes and calling on them to persevere. The words of the president helped to form Ukrainians into a nation, writes the journalist. A nation defined "by its values, its way of life and the willingness of its people to die for them".
The first book by Volodymyr Zelenskyj, which will be published this week by Siedler Verlag, tells little that is new - neither about the Ukrainian president nor about his country. There is also no indication who writes the president's spectacular speeches. It's worth reading nonetheless. On the one hand, because it summarizes the essential developments in Ukraine from a time in which events have rolled over backwards. On the other hand - and this is far more exciting - because it holds up a mirror to the world, especially the West, and at the same time turns back time.
Today, Europe pats itself on the back with every tank exchanged and every cartridge delivered. Certainly not without reason - without Western weapons, things would look much worse for Ukraine on the battlefield. However, there was also a long period when Ukraine was met with little more than European silence. This book reminds you of that.
