Foreign experts and media paid much attention to the presidential elections in Ukraine. After the elections, which Vladimir Zelensky won with a convincing victory, "Apostrophe" analyzed what the respected foreign media write about the Ukrainian elections.
In an article for the British Financial Times, Roman Olearchik noted that after counting 95% of the ballots Zelensky received 73% of the vote, against less than 25% received by Petro Poroshenko.
"The victory is an extraordinary coming to power of the actor who announced plans to fight for the position in the New year's comedy show," the article says.
The media reports that Zelensky has already promised fans that he would not betray them, and also referring, obviously, to Russia said: "All the countries of the former Soviet Union, look at us - everything is possible!".
As the BBC correspondent in Kyiv Johna Fisher wrote, today Ukrainians have woken up and understood that “the last couple of months weren't a dream". "They really chose the person who plays the role of the President in the TV show, to be the real President of the country," he continues. Now, according to the journalist, Zelensky will need to demonstrate that he knows what he is doing. After the inauguration, he will face difficult tasks, one of which is the war in the East of Ukraine.
Johna Fisher said that the entire election campaign of Zelensky was based on the fact that he was supposedly different and was going to challenge the usual course of affairs. "Zelensky turned his ignorance into a virtue and openly admitted that he had no strong political views [... So, the comedian has the last laugh now. But don't be surprised if in the Ukrainian policy will be more of a mess," the journalist said.
Andrew Higgins and Julia Mendel, the authors of the article in the New York Times, noted, "After five years of difficult war with the Russian puppets in Eastern Ukraine, voters seem to have given the signal that they are more concerned with internal threats of corruption and poverty - ignoring the warning of Mr. Poroshenko, who said that a vote for a comedian would be "not funny" and might lead to "painful" consequences."
The article also indicates to the fact that the prospect of a soft transition of power demonstrates how far Ukraine has moved away from Russia.
The website of the American TV channel ABC News says that as a candidate Zelensky was largely a version of himself on the screen and conducted comedy shows instead of meetings. But, unlike the character of the series "Servant of the people", Zelensky comes to power with ties to one of the most controversial oligarchs of Ukraine - Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
"Few people know what this choice will mean. In addition to the promise to eradicate corrupt officials and end the war, Zelensky's agitation was almost not based on any specific policy," journalist Patrick Rivell wrote. And ABC believes that soon he will face severe challenges.
