As America continues to pour money into Ukraine, it seems as if very little questions are being asked as to what we are supporting. The government we are supporting is looking less and less like a republic or a democracy.
On Monday, Breitbart reported:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that taxpayers in the United States and European Union send the country even more aid if the West wishes for elections to be held next year.
In an interview published by the president’s office on Sunday evening, Zelensky said that he would be willing to hold elections despite the ongoing martial law amid the war with Russia, so long as the U.S. and EU bankroll the voting process.
The Ukrainian leader said that elections during peacetime typically cost around 5 billion hryvnia ($135 million) but did not speculate as to how much more they would cost during a war, though presumably it would be much higher.
The article also notes:
Currently, elections are prohibited while the country is under martial law, the renewal of which takes place every 90 days. The next expiration date of martial law is set for November 15th, meaning that it is unlikely that parliamentary elections will be held during their typically scheduled October.
Under normal circumstances, the next presidential election would normally be held in March of next year. In addition to the uncertainty around the vote itself, it also remains to be seen if President Zelensky will lift the ban of several opposition parties he imposed last year under the pretence of them being pro-Russian.
In Sunday’s interview, Zelensky went on to describe some of the logistical challenges of holding elections, noting that millions of Ukrainians are currently living abroad, principally in the European Union, and therefore he said EU countries would need to set up polling stations for the refugees.
I suspect he will get the money. I also suspect that he has enough negative information on every western leader to make sure that he gets the money. This sounds like blackmail to me.