Zelensky's TV series makes me doubt Ukraine in the EU There must be an end to "looting and talking shit"

 

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Peter Gustavsson

 

Published: Less than 2 hours ago 

 

 Aftonbladet's leadership side is independently social democratic.

 

 

Zelensky's path to the presidency began with the television series "Servant of the People," which describes how a history teacher becomes the unlikely leader of Ukraine. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP

 

 LEADER

 

"They plunder and talk shit, talk more shit and deceive. Same shit, new day. No one cares! Damn procession, bonuses and weekend castles! Fan ta alltihop. ” 

 

So angry was history teacher Vasyl Petrovich Holoborodko at Ukraine's corrupt politicians. But the conversation with the teacher colleague was recorded in secret, and posted on YouTube by one of his students. 

 

Holoborodko is fast becoming one of Ukraine's most famous people. And after the students persuaded him, he becomes a candidate and sensational winner in the presidential election. 

 

This is how the TV series "The Servant of the People" begins, which is shown on Netflix, among other places. For three seasons, the viewer gets to follow the president from the street's fight against corruption among politicians, government officials, oligarchs - and his own family. 

 

The series was a great success, which made the actor Volodymyr Zelensky famous in Ukraine. Just as the TV president Jed Bartlet in "The White House" was in the US or the TV Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg in the Danish "Borgen". 

 

Then the poem suddenly became a reality, when Zelensky ran and won the presidential election in 2019.But the reality took a different turn. 

 

In the TV series, the president is having a hard time when the economy is in crisis and Parliament refuses to stop behind his policy against corruption. The Zelensky of reality is instead in the spotlight of the world in the fight against the Russian invasion. 

 

The same Zelensky who attacked corruption in the TV series and in his election campaign, now condemns the Russian war crimes and appeals to the outside world to increase his military support. And his reforms for increased local self-government are a great asset in the resistance struggle. 

 

The decision of the EU leaders the other day to approve Ukraine and Moldova as candidate countries was an important step. But what should happen now? 

 

It is difficult to imagine that Ukraine can become an EU member here and now. 

 

The country is at war, parts of the territory are controlled by another country and the economy is in free fall. And after Russia, Ukraine is Europe's second most corrupt country(Europas näst mest korrupta land).

 

"The Servant of the People" is a satire series. But satire often contains important truths. 

 

Ukraine is a society where many people in power put their shoes on at the expense of the people. Where citizens are not always equal before the law, and oligarchs and organized crime have great power. 

 

At the same time, Ukraine wants to be something other than what it is. On two occasions during the country's thirty-year history as an independent country, the people have revolutionized corrupt rulers. And after the Russian invasion, nine out of ten Ukrainians want to join the EU. 

 

This is not the first time the EU is considering enlarging the Union with new members. Countries that have recently been democratized after a history of dictatorship and oppression. 

 

For the most part, it has gone well. Spain, Portugal and Greece went from military dictatorships to stable democracies in a few decades. And several former communist states in the Baltics and Central Europe have made the same journey. 

 

EU enlargement has made Europe more open, freer and more democratic. At the same time, there are many downsides. 

 

When Poland and Hungary became members of the EU, the countries were governed by left-wing governments. They implemented reforms to strengthen democracy and human rights. Then the trend reversed. 

 

Today, EU politicians are putting their foreheads in deep folds to avoid EU money funding authoritarian leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán - without success. And in the meantime, Orbán is helping to block important decisions such as a more solidary distribution of refugee reception in Europe. 

 

Upon accession to the EU, Romania and Bulgaria promised to improve the situation of their Roma minorities. A job that goes far too slowly. Even today - fifteen years later - many travel to other EU countries to reach out and ask for help. 

 

And even today, wages and working conditions differ so much between countries that it is profitable for Swedish companies to bring in subcontractors from Poland and the Baltics.

Underbidding competition is today built into many industries in Sweden and othercountries. 

 

The EU's next enlargement is about so much more than about Ukraine. At the same time, that's exactly what it's about. 

 

It is important that the outside world supports Ukraine's armed struggle against Russian aggression. And our support is needed at least as much once the war is over. 

 

The weapons that are everywhere in war-torn Ukraine need to come under state control. Organized crime, oligarchs and corruption need to be fought. The legal system needs to be reformed and the development of local self-government continues. 

 

These are reforms that Volodymyr Zelensky will want to implement. But the point of democracies is that governments change sometimes. And no one knows what the next Ukrainian government will pursue for politics. 

 

If there is now a next Ukrainian government. Because if Vladimir Putin gets what he wants, then large parts of the country will be forcibly connected to Russia. While the rest of Ukraine will be an obedient state, which will never be allowed to join the EU.  

 

At the same time as EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the terms of Ukraine's membership application, Ukrainians defended the values that the EU holds for their lives.  

 

For that reason, few today want to talk loudly about the requirements that Ukraine needs to meet before the country can become a full member of the EU. 

 

But Volodymyr Zelensky has himself formulated Ukraine's mistakes and shortcomings in the clearest possible way.

 

If Ukraine is to be able to become a member of the EU, it must stop plundering and talking shit.