Our tenth episode of Talk Eastern Europe is dedicated to the results of the first round of the presidential election in Ukraine which took place on March 31st 2019 and saw comedian and showman Volodymyr Zelenskiy come in first place with over 30% of the vote; incumbent president Petro Poroshenko in second place with 15.95%; and Yulia Tymoshenko in third place with 13.4%.
In this episode we first get input from Maksym Kyiak, Deputy Director of the Central European Institute based in Kyiv on how to understand the Zelenskiy phenomenon.
Adam Reichardt then interviews Marcel Roethig – the director of the Kyiv office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung where they discuss the wider social context in Ukraine and the events leading up to the first round, as well as what to expect in the second round.
The second round of elections which will pit Petro Poroshenko against Volodymyr Zelenskiy will take place on April 21 2019.
Resources:
Ukraine presidential elections narrowed down from 39 to 2 contenders
Who is Mr Ze?
New Eastern Europe’s ongoing coverage of the election in Ukraine: http://neweasterneurope.eu/category/ukraine-elections-2019/
Music featured in the podcast licensed under the Creative Commons license 3.0
Opening theme: “Sum of My Fears” by Dazie Mae: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dazie_Mae/Last_Jazz_in_Paris/03-1518107-Dazie_Mae-Sum_of_My_Fears
“Nothing But Luck” by Lee Rosevere: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Blue_Dot_RMX/Nothing_But_Luck