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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY HAS heaped praise on “true friend” and ally Boris Johnson, as the UK’s prime minister enters his final few days in office.
In an indication of the esteem in which the Ukrainian president holds Johnson, Zelenskyy has written a piece in the Mail on Sunday and spoken to the Sunday Times about his gratitude to the outgoing British premier.
In both, Zelenskyy also expresses his hope for future “close relations” with Johnson’s successor, who could be in line for an invitation to visit Kyiv.
Zelenskyy told the Sunday Times that it would be a “priority” to extend an invitation to the next prime minister, while he also admitted that he was “concerned” when he heard Johnson was resigning.
“When we learned that there would be a change of government, all of us were concerned,” he told the paper.
“Johnson was supporting us and a lot depends on the leader. The leader is the one who communicates. The leader is the one that mediates between a country and its people, and a leader has an impact upon society.”
Speaking about Johnson’s successor, he said of that relationship: “I can only pray that it will be at the same level as I had with prime minister Johnson.”
In the Mail on Sunday, he paid tribute to UK solidarity with the country since the Russian invasion.
Zelenskyy also used the article to thank Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, calling them “great leaders and friends of Ukraine”.
“At each and every meeting and conversation between us, Boris had one very good question: What else? What else do you need?”
“It became our watchword, guaranteeing effective progress. Believe me, not many politicians are ready to do this.”
Zelenskyy says that he believes “in the power of personal leadership”.
“I know it has not been an easy ride for Boris Johnson as he had to deal with many internal challenges. Prioritising support for Ukraine demanded a great courage and determination.”
He continues: “Last month, Ukraine celebrated the 31st anniversary of our independence.
“Again, Boris Johnson was with us, welcomed by ordinary Ukrainians.
“We even started to address him, warmly and humorously, as ‘Boris Johnsoniuk’ – a Ukrainian sounding surname if you put a stress on the last syllable – inspired by his Instagram account @borisjohnsonuk.”
Johnson will leave office on Tuesday, after a summer-long leadership contest between Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Thank you my friend President @ZelenskyyUa for your kind words.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 3, 2022
UK support for Ukraine and its people is unwavering, and we’ll continue to support you against Putin’s war.
Thank you for your friendship Volodymyr, you’re a hero, everybody loves you.https://t.co/a8AiE1EAz0
On Saturday he tweeted his thanks to Zelenskyy for his “kind words”.
“UK support for Ukraine and its people is unwavering, and we’ll continue to support you against Putin’s war.
“Thank you for your friendship Volodymyr, you’re a hero, everybody loves you.”
Liz Truss is widely tipped to become prime minister next week.
The Ukrainian president said he would welcome whoever the next prime minister is and would establish “close relations”.
“I sincerely hope that Boris’s legacy in this fight against Russian barbarism will be preserved.
“We will continue to fight on because we do not have any other option. It is our lives and our future at stake. And we still need the UK’s support and leadership.”
Zelenskyy concludes by paying tribute to “my friend Boris”.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the BBC, to be broadcast on today, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska says that while the rest of Europe has been pitched into an energy crisis, Ukraine is at the forefront of Russian attacks.
“I understand the situation is very tough. But let me recall that at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic, and it’s still with us, when there were price hikes, Ukraine was affected as well.
“The prices are going up in Ukraine as well. But in addition our people get killed.
“So when you start counting pennies on your bank account or in your pocket, we do the same and count our casualties,” she said.
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What kind of gombeen drives around with unrestrained kids in a car. Never mind seizing the car, seize the kids!
@Reg: A dope, where would you put kids Reg and who’d pay for their new arrangement?
Who would pay the price in the event of a crash or sudden stop. It doesn’t matter who pays for a new arrangement.
Only a fixed notice for texting?! And texting at 157km ! Absoloute muppet , should be banned.
Why oh why are there so many idiots and complete morons on the roads? To be honest there are a litany of answers but nobody cares. 3 years ago the government cared. Now they don’t. Self serving sleveens. Here’s why; they don’t mandate driving as a leaving cert course ( every child in this country will drive at some stage, but they are not taught at school age ) , it should be mandatory in school. Learners are not allowed on motorways..WTF. Insurance costs are insane..a 23 year old man is now quoted at least €2400 per year. Outrageous. And the best and most laughable combination the NCT and cars over 10 years old. You can’t get insurance on a 10 year old car without paying thru the nose..but the NCT are offering 2 year certificates if you apply early. You count make this $hi! up . People are responsible for their vehicles, and 99% of us drive within the laws. But when you have mayhem within the system it will all go wrong.
Agree on all, especially mandatory in school. Our Transition years are offered driving safety course which includes driving. Some won’t take it because they say they already can drive ( tractor license ) these kids are only 16! Where does road safety go from there ?
Jenni with all due respect, some things have to be taught outside school such as at home or wider community . Schools do not have time to cover every societal issue. In theory it sounds like a good idea but what do you stop teaching to teach this? Bullying? Mental Health? SPHE which does cover safety in many aspects, numeracy, literacy, science? The list is endless now.
Saw three garda in the last few weeks driving and using there mobile. One was talking and the other two were either texting or checking something. Talk about swearing to uphold the law.
Have they caught Kinahan yet? Glad to see all their resources are being used to tackle ‘real’ criminals.
For those who are putting thumbs down on this post. Personally I have great respect for the guards. But they need to get there shop in order and lead by example. I can only imagine the response and cooperation I would get if I called into a garda station to report a gaurd for driving while they were on the phone.
Read the Road Traffic Act. Emergency services are specifically exempt. While it’s not good for public perception it’s not illegal.
In an Emergency they may be understandably exempt. On all three occasions (only this year) what I have witnessed, none of the drivers where in the process of an emergency. In fact one them pulled in front of me onto the petrol station forecourt and went at the same time as me to buy a coffee.
Thumbs still going up here obviously a lot of guards themselves thumbing this so let’s hope none of them create a fatal accident while on their way for a coffee on their mobile.
Why is this published? The drivers were detected and the process is underway and that is that. The Gardai always detected road offences and always will. Whats the big deal
@Val Martin: The Guards have a Twitter account….. Copy… Paste…. Budda bing…. Budda boom…
Yesterday I witnessed a mother driving away from the school with her Junior infant child, not only unrestrained, but with his head stuck out the fully opened window. The same woman is regularly on her mobile while driving.
If you report it enough times something may be done.
Do the cops realise that it’s illegal for them to seize a car or is this just another oversight on their behalf? http://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/04/11/we-won-court-case-when-gardai-seized-car-you-can-do-the-same/
There has been no change to any legislation about this since then.
Idiots deserve there cars seized .let them go through hassle of getting it back .if not too busy on phone ffs
@Cranium: Never knew that Interesting article
European law dictates that force majure can not exceed the value of the debt chased. So a wrong equals a wrong.. Would be interesting to actually discover how many of the 2 billion road journeys taken each year resulted in hundreds of road deaths from texting. Not a supporter of this activity but sure the RSA milk this kinda thing to keep the quango in funds..
Do you realise that the circumstances of the seizure referred to hear are different to what’s referred to in your article?
@Cranium: Bunreacht na hÉireann, Article 43:
1. 1° The State acknowledges that man, in virtue of his rational being, has the natural right, antecedent to positive law, to the private ownership of external goods.
2° The State accordingly guarantees to pass no law attempting to abolish the right of private ownership or the general right to transfer, bequeath, and inherit property.
2. 1° The State recognises, however, that the exercise of the rights mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this Article ought, in civil society, to be regulated by the principles of social justice.
2° The State, accordingly, may as occasion requires delimit by law the exercise of the said rights with a view to reconciling their exercise with the exigencies of the common good.
Paragraph 2, Clause 2 gives Constitutional validity to the relevant section of the 1992 Finance Act. That decision would likely have been appealed if Letterkenny District Court had the power to set precedent in this country. It doesn’t though, so the DPP simply didn’t gamble on a case with zero upside, from his perspective.
That might apply to the case of impounding due to no tax alright. But they’d have a case on road safety grounds with respect to the NCT & insurance cars.
“No tax and a false insurance disc”. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s not legal for them to seize the car. There was talk today about legislation to “empower” them to seize a car from an unaccompanied, learner driver. All the rest will be sneaked in to “empower” them even more.
“article 15.which states “The Oireachtas shall not enact any law which is in any way repugnant to the constitution or any part thereof.””
I’m surprised a cop doesn’t already have the power to come to the conclusion that the learner driver is too high a risk for the road and must therefore take the car away. They probably have to give the option of calling someone to accompany them at the minute and they’re a bit annoyed that can’t just take it away.
Donegal daily prints anything it hears without investigation. This story is one mans interpretation without fully understanding the circumstances that led to the case been dismissed. Donegal daily also reported a woman been fined €4000 for obstructing guards seizing her car. Rehashing an opinion piece from 2014 because it suits what you want to believe to be true doesn’t make it so. 1000s of cars have been seized since.
Not disputing that there have been 1000s of cars seized. Simply the fact that it’s not legal for them to seize them. Makes no difference anyway. The law only applies to us peasants in this corrupt country. The VRT itself is illegal under European law and the Irish State pays massive fines to Europe, every year, for breaking this law. We’re not supposed to know about this though.
Cranium – you seem so determined to jump to the defence of those who flout the law. It’s fine until they collide with you or yours. Spend some time thinking of emergency services who have to deal with the aftermath of these fools.
@cranium if seizing a car keeps the loonies off the road and makes it safer for everyone else, seize away!
You’ve totally discredit yourself now Cranium. VRT is not illegal under Irish or EU law. We do not pay fines to the EU. That is often repeated here but it is nonsense. Othe EU countries have similar taxes.
Again, i only ever hear that vrt is illegal during bar room talk. Cant find it officially written anywhere except on anti established threads. My understanding is that a penalty tax cait be imposed on goods from EU states. But because vrt is paid on irish bought cars already then vrt on imports is not illegal. Perhaps im wrong but I’d like to read it somewhere more official then donegal daily or facebook.
@Cranium: All this talk and not one piece of legislation quoted, why can’t you quote the act itself, the constitution is only relevant is the act is repugnant to it.
Val ceasing a car is repugnant to the constitution. Its just our parisites of politicians ignore
They should be empowered, driving while texting at that speed! Kids with no seat belt! This kind of stupidity results in needless death and destruction.
Great.Take the cars and sell them. Make them walk home.
Is it not a mandatory ban for anyone caught driving without insurance?
I have always thought that RTA enforcement re Tax & insurance is set incorrectly by in use road checks, which are very wasteful of Garda resources.
The central vehicle registration dept should flag up any vehicles not renewed when due,to a collection service to follow up, on the basis that the last registered user is liable unless & until a re- registration is made. Off road certification needs to be time limited to 3 months, & be fee based.
All vehicles need to be insured to renew tax, so both would be encompassed administratively, rather than by legal processes, unless the law needs enforcement by reason of other, or further illegality, eg failure to respond to arrears notices.
This process would also address the all to evident practices of back lane cash sales to unlicensed/ uninsured buyers, & the simple abandonment of vehicles, & would be largely self financing.
It is time that the office based elements do more than just collect taxes, but also become pro-actively concerned with the downstream enforcement of the system, & leave the Gardai deal with other criminality.
They should also be pulling over lane hoggers in the middle and outside lanes and charging them with obstruction. KEEP LEFT!
Amazing how active the garda have become since the Whistle blower controversy is daily grabbing the headlines, and at last a proper inquiry into the whole sordid affair. Why were they not as active in the past?
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