The world hasn’t been the same for 19 days – that’s how long it’s been since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. At the same time, all eyes are on Russia’s small neighboring country – and on its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who within a very short time has become the celebrated icon of resistance and freedom.
Thanks to his steadfastness in the face of the apparently overpowering enemy, Zelenskyi wins people’s hearts – those of Ukrainians as well as those of people all over the world. There is already open speculation on Twitter that he will be voted “Person of the Year 2022” by “Time”. This level of popularity can only be born out of an absolutely exceptional situation – and is the dream of every politician – especially when facing a (re)election. Just like Emmanuel Macron.
The French President has been acting since the beginning of the war and before that, when there was still hope of de-escalation, as the great mediator in the Ukraine conflict. For a long time he seemed to be the only Western head of state who could find a connection to Vladimir Putin – and he tried to find every opportunity to talk. But for the Kremlin boss, it turned out, there was no discussion when it came to pushing through his goals and plans for Ukraine. And even if the invasion of Ukraine may not go as planned for him, Putin is not backing down from his plan and is advancing steadily as the fear of a third world war grows and grows.
These are truly unusual times – and accordingly, the world’s heads of state are likely to be getting little sleep at the moment. So far it has only been seen by Volodymyr Zelenskyy – after all, the Ukrainian president exchanged his suit for a combat fatigues and an olive-green shirt, sometimes a sweater, on the first day of the war after deciding to hold the fort in Kyiv. Not only a morally ingenious move, but also a brilliant PR move – and his colleagues are apparently taking notes.
The parallels to the appearance of the new Ukrainian national hero are so striking – but maybe they are also shots of a head of state who sacrifices every minute and his sleep for his people, Europe and peace – images that were not known from times of peace. Only last week he had invited to the unofficial crisis summit in Versailles, but since then Macron seems to have exchanged his blue suit for blue jeans and a black hoodie, the three-day beard completes the look à la Selenskyj. The pictures will certainly not harm Macron for his re-election.
The parallels to the appearance of the new Ukrainian national hero are so striking – but maybe they are also shots of a head of state who sacrifices every minute and his sleep for his people, Europe and peace – images that were not known from times of peace. Only last week he had invited to the unofficial crisis summit in Versailles, but since then Macron seems to have exchanged his blue suit for blue jeans and a black hoodie, the three-day beard completes the look à la Selenskyj. The pictures will certainly not harm Macron for his re-election.
Of course, Twitter hasn’t gone unnoticed as to where Macron’s obvious styling inspiration might have come from (namely, the Zelenskyj lookbook) – but even the news platform’s sharp tongues have mostly praise and appreciation for the Frenchman, who has been campaigning for weeks for committed to peace.
