Guest post by Drieu Godefridi
Let’s begin with the truth no serious observer denies: Russia invaded Ukraine. Moscow lit the fuse. The war is brutal. Europe’s strategic interest is to prevent Russian imperial expansion, and to rearm in the meantime. Fine. Clear. No dispute.
But clarity on Russia’s guilt does not require blind obedience to Volodymyr Zelensky. And yet, in today’s Europe, questioning Kyiv’s methods is treated like blasphemy. Speak cautiously and you’re “pro-Putin.” Ask for legal safeguards and you’re a “traitor.” Express the slightest criticism of Mr. Zelensky’s erratic behavior and you become a “Putin lackey.” How charming. This hysteria is precisely what Zelensky exploited on the Davos stage.
Since Washington closed its checkbook, Europe has become Ukraine’s ATM. A staggering €280 billion has been paid & committed. That’s not charity. That’s taxpayer money from nations already drowning in debt, stagnation, and energy insecurity. Belgium, France, Italy — all hovering near or above 120% debt-to-GDP. And still, Brussels keeps wiring billions eastward.
And what does Mr. Zelensky do after receiving this river of cash? He goes to Davos and publicly accuses Belgium — yes, Belgium — and Europe of doing Vladimir Putin’s bidding.
Their crime? Refusing to illegally confiscate Russian central bank assets frozen in Brussels. Let’s hear Mr. Zelensky precisely in Davos:
‘when the time came to use those assets to defend against Russian aggression, the decision was blocked. Putin managed to stop Europe.’
Belgium’s prime minister pointed out an inconvenient detail: international law still exists. Treaties protecting sovereign assets still exist. And seizing €200 billion without legal basis could expose tiny Belgium to catastrophic retaliation claims — roughly one-third of its GDP. A sane government would call that a serious risk. Zelensky calls it treason.
At Davos, he sneered that “Putin decides how frozen assets are used,” not Europe. Translation: any European leader who refuses to break the law on demand is now a Kremlin puppet. All the rational arguments put forward against seizing Russian assets: pssst! Pretexts! Falsehoods! Lies! European leaders speak, but their vocal cords are being manipulated from MOSCOW!
This isn’t diplomacy. It’s extortion rhetoric.
Zelensky’s worldview is brutally simple:
Obey instantly — or be branded an enemy.
Pay more — or be accused of betrayal.
Break your own legal order — or be shamed before the global ‘elite’.
That is not how alliances function in democratic civilizations. Europe is not a wartime dictatorship. The EU is not Zelensky’s personal command center. European governments answer to their citizens — not to a foreign president. Not Putin. Not even Mr. Zelensky.
Europe’s strategic interest is to support Ukraine and its courageous people. But Mr. Zelensky is not a sacred figure. Especially when he allows himself to insult the taxpayers who are giving him 280 billion.
And here lies the ultimate irony: by urging Europe to abandon law in the name of ‘justice’, Zelensky adopts the very logic of the authoritarian regimes he claims to oppose. Rule by urgency. Rule by moral blackmail. Rule by insult.
At Davos, Zelensky didn’t just ask for aid. He revealed something far more troubling: a belief that allies exist to obey, not to deliberate.
Europe would do well to remember: it did not build its peace, prosperity, or freedom through obedience — but through law, restraint, and reason.
And that, inconveniently, still matters.
Drieu Godefridi is a PhD from the Sorbonne and a leading voice on European lost sovereignty.
Follow Drieu on X.
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