Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

From Churchill to Pearl Harbor, Zelenskiy’s speeches push the right buttons abroad

Analysis: Ukrainian leader’s addresses to foreign legislatures focus on each country’s history

To MPs in London, he channelled Churchill and Shakespeare. To the US Congress, he evoked Pearl Harbor and 9/11. For the Bundestag it was the Berlin Wall; for Canada’s lawmakers, their large Ukrainian community. MEPs in Brussels were reminded of Ukraine’s place in the continent’s family of nations.

Each of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s addresses to western legislatures has contained historical references carefully chosen to appeal to the audience; each has been greeted with a standing ovation. If he found domestic fame as an actor and comedian, it is the Ukrainian president’s talent as an orator that has won him foreign acclaim.

I have a need': Zelenskiy invokes 9/11 in powerful address to US Congress – video


Speaking by video to German MPs on Wednesday, the 44-year-old leader again displayed his habitual mix of passion, pride and defiance; of brutally vivid portrayals of his people’s suffering; direct, straight-from-the-heart entreaties for more help; and inspiring invocations of common ideals and shared pasts, presents and futures.

But it is his references to each country’s history – and suggestion that this could all be happening to them – that have hit hardest. “Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this wall,” he implored Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, echoing former US president Ronald Reagan’s 1987 plea to his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev from a divided Berlin.

Russia, Zelenskiy said, was now building “not a Berlin Wall, but a wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage, and this wall is growing bigger with every bomb that lands in Ukraine”. Germany’s own history, he said, meant it owed it to Ukraine’s to back the country’s push to join the EU.

‘Thirteen days of struggle’: Zelenskiy’s address to UK parliament in full – video


Thousands had already died, he said in his address, including 108 children. “And we’re talking about the middle of Europe, in the year 2022,” he said, before adding, in another pointed historical reference: “Once again, attempts are being made to annihilate an entire people.”

In a speech to MEPs on 1 March that brought one interpreter close to tears, Zelenskiy said Ukrainians were literally fighting for a European future. “Thousands of people killed, two revolutions, one war and five days of full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation” is a “very high price” to pay for EU membership, he said.

“We have proven our strengths,” he said. “We have proven that, at a minimum, we are exactly the same as you are. So do prove that you are with us, do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you indeed are Europeans.” Freedom Square in Kharkiv, the target of a recent fatal attack, could have been any plaza on the continent, he said.

For British MPs in London, Zelenskiy echoed the wartime words of Winston Churchill and invoked the fight against nazism, telling a packed chamber: “We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, the fields, the shores and in the streets.” Ukraine “will not lose” to Russia, he vowed.

The president also cited Shakespeare to describe his country’s plight. “The question for us now is to be or not to be,” he said. “Oh no, this Shakespearean question. I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes, to be … Just the same way you once didn’t want to lose your country when the Nazis started to fight you.”

Ukrainian president urges Canada to help enact no-fly zone – video


He asked Canadian lawmakers on 9 March to imagine the impact of such a war on their own country, demanding directly of the prime minister, Justin Trudeau: “Imagine that [at] 4am … you start hearing bomb explosions. Justin, can you imagine – you and your children hear all these severe explosions?”

He reminded Canadians that 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent live among them, the largest Ukrainian diaspora outside Russia, and days after the TV tower in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was struck by a missile, asked: “Can you imagine the famous CN Tower in Toronto if it was hit by Russian bombs? This is our reality in which we live.”

In a virtual address before both chambers of the US Congress on Wednesday, Zelenskiy also invoked key events in the country’s history, including the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the 11 September 2001 terror attacks.

“Just like nobody else expected it, you could not stop it,” he said. “Our country experienced the same, right now, at this moment, every night, for three weeks now.” Citing the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King, he added: “‘l have a dream’ – these words are known to each of you today. I have a need, a need to protect our sky.”

According to Ukrainian officials, Zelenskiy’s speechwriters produce a first draft from which he freely departs as he speaks. Some of his appeals, – notably for a no-fly zone, which Nato and the EU will not consider for fear of provoking direct conflict with Russia – may not have produced results. But none have fallen flat.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×