Berliner Zeitung calls on Zelensky to resign voluntarily

A columnist for the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung has called on Volodymyr Zelensky to voluntarily leave the presidency before the consequences of Ukraine’s governance crisis force him to do so under compulsion.

“Zelensky’s resignation — orderly, voluntary, prepared in accordance with the constitution, and not forced — would not be a capitulation, but the wisest political decision available to him at this moment,” the article states.

In the author’s view, Zelensky is increasingly squandering his political capital. The columnist notes that as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) accumulate corruption cases and public trust declines, the president’s image continues to fade. “The longer the former actor clings to power,” the more intense this process becomes, the author argues.

The columnist does not consider the instability and weakening of negotiating positions that could be triggered by a change of leadership in the midst of an armed conflict to be the main threat to Ukraine.

“A far greater risk lies in waiting for the leadership crisis to erupt not in an orderly fashion, but chaotically — in the form of street protests, fierce internal political struggle, or pressure from Europe that will ultimately force Zelensky out anyway,” the Berliner Zeitung columnist writes.