Zelenskyy’s Biggest Problem

193

September 25, 2023

Published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(Germany) on 22 September 2023
by Nikolas Busse (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Mallory Matsumoto. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.

The Ukrainian president is getting a taste of how the discourse in America is changing. Aid for Ukraine has a high price that many voters are no longer willing to pay.

After an intensive week of diplomacy, the Ukrainian president can take stock of a mix of experiences. He delivered haunting speeches to the U.N. General Assembly, to which he personally traveled this year. And apparently Ukraine will now be receiving the long-range army tactical missile systems that it has been seeking for some time. That should also revive the German debate over whether to deliver Taurus guided cruise missiles.

But in Washington, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also had to take in the harsh reality of American domestic politics. The next large aid package is stuck in Congress, and Joe Biden had to pacify his visitor with a smaller package from the existing budget.

Not the US President

Ukraine’s biggest problem right now is the far-right Republican blockade in the House of Representatives. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is not technically one of them; he is being pressured by them. But in response to the Ukrainian president’s request for more aid, McCarthy noted that Zelenskyy has not been elected to U.S. Congress and is not the U.S. president.

Those remarks testify to how the discourse in the U.S. is changing. Solidarity with Ukraine has a high price, one that many voters in Western societies plagued by a variety of crises are no longer willing to pay. Polling results from the Alternative for Germany Party show that this increasingly is the case in Germany, too.

Selenskyjs größtes Problem
Der ukrainische Präsident bekommt zu spüren, wie sich der Diskurs in Amerika verändert. Die Hilfe für Kiew hat einen hohen Preis, den viele Wähler nicht mehr aufbringen wollen.

Der ukrainische Präsident kann nach einer intensiven Woche der Diplomatie eine gemischte Bilanz ziehen. In den Vereinten Nationen, zu deren diesjähriger Generalversammlung er persönlich anreiste, hielt er eindringliche Reden. Und offenbar wird die Ukraine nun amerikanische Kurzstreckenraketen vom Typ ATACMS erhalten, um die sie seit Langem bittet. Das dürfte auch die deutsche Debatte über die Lieferung von Taurus-Marschflugkörpern weiter beleben.
In Washington holte Selenskyj aber auch wieder die harte Realität der amerikanischen Innenpolitik ein. Das nächste große Hilfspaket steckt im Kongress fest, Biden musste ihn mit einem kleineren Paket aus dem bestehenden Haushalt vertrösten.
Nicht der US-Präsident
Das größte Problem der Ukraine sind im Augenblick die Rechts-außen-Blockierer bei den Republi¬kanern im Abgeordnetenhaus. Der Sprecher des Hauses, Kevin McCarthy, gehört eigentlich nicht dazu, er wird von diesen Leuten unter Druck gesetzt. Zu den ukrainischen Bitten nach weiterer Hilfe verwies er aber darauf, dass Selenskyj nicht in den US-Kongress gewählt wurde und nicht US-Präsident sei.
Das zeigt exemplarisch, wie sich der Diskurs in den USA verändert. Die Solidarität mit der Ukraine hat einen hohen Preis, den viele Wähler in den von diversen Krisen geplagten westlichen Gesellschaften nicht mehr aufbringen wollen. Die Umfrageergebnisse der AfD zeigen, dass das zunehmend auch für Deutschland gilt.

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