The whole of Europe rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Donald Trump called him a ‘dictator’ and criticized his lack of diplomatic and negotiating skills, claiming he was incapable of settling the war in Ukraine. From UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Western European leaders were quick to condemn Trump’s statements and expressed support for the ‘democratically elected leader’.

A Half-Baked Negotiator

Trump traded blows with the Ukrainian president after US–Russia talks to end the war in Ukraine began this week in Saudi Arabia. Zelenskyy called for stronger support from Washington, demanding a seat at the negotiating table for Kyiv. ‘You may discuss what you wish, but we firmly assert that we will not accept talks about us in our absence,’ the Ukrainian leader stated.

Reacting to Zelenskyy’s statement, Trump said at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago that Ukraine ‘had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily,’ adding that a ‘half-baked negotiator’ could have resolved the conflict between Russia and Ukraine years ago, without the loss of much land and any lives.

Trump then continued by challenging Zelenskyy to call an election—which, in fact, has not been held in Ukraine since 2019, when Zelenskyy came to power, and was due in May 2024—and stated that the Ukrainian leader’s approval rating is extremely low.

Later in a post on Truth Social, the US president called Zelenskyy a ‘dictator without elections’ and warned him to ‘move fast or he is not going to have a country left.’

The Ukrainian president responded by accusing Trump of spreading Russian disinformation, adding that he ‘would like to see more truth from the Trump team.’

Joining the fray, US Vice President JD Vance cautioned Zelenskyy not to badmouth Trump. ‘Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.’

Who Is a Dictator and Who Is Not?

Reacting to the war of words between the two leaders, Europe was quick to help out their favourite president—who is obviously not Donald Trump. ‘Zelenskyy was a democratically elected leader, and it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime, as the UK did during World War II,’ Keir Starmer said in a statement. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said Trump’s use of the word dictator was ‘incorrect’, while Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the comments ‘absurd’. Olaf Scholz stated that it is simply ‘wrong and dangerous’ to deny Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy.

If one had lived at the bottom of a rock for the past decade, one could say that the European reactions to such harsh criticism were justified. If someone accuses one of your allies of such allegations, you should defend them

However, those same Western leaders remained silent when former US President Joe Biden stated, back in 2024, that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán seeks to establish a dictatorship in Hungary. In the same year, his vice president and Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris referred to Orbán as a ‘dictator, authoritarian, and murderer’ in the lead-up to the elections. Former US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman criticized the state of democracy in Hungary in almost every one of his speeches, accusing Orbán of authoritarian governance.

‘US and EU politicians have been labelling Hungary a dictatorship for quite a long time’

This is not a new trend—US and EU politicians have been labelling Hungary a dictatorship for quite a long time. For example, late US Senator John McCain called Orbán a ‘neo-fascist dictator’ as early as 2014. And, of course, who can forget European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s infamous ‘Hello, Dictator!’ greeting from 2015?

The reaction from those now outraged over Trump’s statements on Zelenskyy? None. Zero. In fact, most of them were probably pleased by the comments about the West’s then-number-one public enemy—a position now taken by Trump himself.

Mask Off

Western hypocrisy becomes even more evident when comparing the two phenomena from an objective, definition-based perspective. For that, we turn to ChatGPT as the fastest available source, according to which ‘a dictator is a ruler who holds absolute power and authority over a state, typically without the consent of the governed. Dictators often govern through force, suppress dissent, limit political freedoms, and disregard democratic processes. Historically, the term has been associated with authoritarian regimes where power is concentrated in the hands of one individual or a small group.’

Since martial law was introduced in 2022, Zelenskyy holds absolute power, as the elections due in May 2024 were postponed indefinitely. The Ukrainian president also moved to ban 11 opposition parties soon after Russia invaded the country in March 2022. The list of banned parties has since expanded, with Nas Kraj (Our Land) and many others joining the ranks of prohibited political forces. However, it was not only political parties that were targeted by Kyiv—under Zelenskyy’s rule, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UPC), which claimed to have severed all ties with Moscow after the invasion, was also banned.

‘Zelenskyy also moved to ban 11 opposition parties soon after Russia invaded the country in March 2022’

It was widely reported in international media that former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny was removed from his position because he was seen as a potential challenger to Zelenskyy’s power. These actions already meet the definition of dictatorship, but we should also add that corruption in Ukraine is extremely high, with a small group of oligarchs close to Zelenskyy controlling political life and the media. This problem has only been amplified by the war, as even the Ukrainian president admitted that Kyiv cannot account for a huge amount of US military and financial aid arriving to the country.

Western leaders, however, all turn a blind eye to Zelenskyy’s authoritarian traits, even describing Ukraine as an example of a functioning democracy. Meanwhile, they attack Hungary for alleged ‘authoritarianism’ and accuse Orbán of building a dictatorship. Orbán and his party, Fidesz, have won four consecutive elections with an overwhelming majority and regularly launch referendum-like initiatives to consult voters on key issues. Nevertheless, Western leaders constantly criticize the country’s rule-of-law situation and withhold billions of euros in EU funds, all because Hungary and its government refuse to sacrifice their national interests for the globalist agenda.

Western Europe’s political elite will continue to face hard slaps of reality as Donald Trump’s presidency dismantles their precisely constructed narrative of reality. Trump’s team essentially treats them the same way they have treated Hungary for years—and they do not seem to like it very much. Meanwhile, their mask of so-called Western values and morals is slipping, as evidenced by their hypocrisy in dealing with their ‘allies’.

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