{"id":1258422,"date":"2025-07-09T19:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/zelenskys-second-happiness\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T01:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:23:19","slug":"zelenskys-second-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/zelenskys-second-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky\u2019s \u201cSecond Happiness\u201d: Because One Term of Chaos Just Wasn\u2019t Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rostyslav.pavlenko\/posts\/pfbid02EFZKLQCR3H279JHFn2pySEynonzqDxD2a6TW4Ewmq38y5jPekTw7WG5tZBjGvu9fl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>There\u2019s an old saying that impudence is the second happiness, though for some, it\u2019s <em data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"99\">very clearly<\/em> the first. Judging by recent events, it seems Andriy Yermak has finally persuaded President Zelensky to adopt this wisdom as official state policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"485\">The refusal to appoint an inconvenient director of the BEB goes against proper procedure, the position of G7 representatives, and the expectations of the business community. Meanwhile, the appointment of a \u201cconvenient\u201d language policy commissioner and the staged demonstration of support for him directly contradict the stance of civil society.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"806\">This isn\u2019t even about rearranging the deck chairs anymore \u2014 it\u2019s about remaking the blankets. Government appointments are now based solely on loyalty to Yermak (some were even flown out to a conference in Rome), even though these very officials are the ones most frequently questioned about corruption and inefficiency.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"808\" data-end=\"1061\">The public promotion of the law &#8220;on liability for circumventing sanctions&#8221; is being used to weaponize the entire law enforcement system against enemies of the President\u2019s Office \u2014 people labeled as threats \u201cpreventively,\u201d without trial or investigation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1063\" data-end=\"1382\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">All the while, the government continues to ignore critical issues \u2014 from fortifications to military production, from foreign policy failures to rampant theft, from declining democratic standards to the arrogant hope that international partners will \u201cput up with everything\u201d because they supposedly have no other choice.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/poroshenko-demands-to-appoint-legally-elected-tsyvinsky-as-head-of-beb\/\">Poroshenko demands to appoint legally elected Tsyvinsky as head of BEB<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"140\" data-end=\"615\">Articles in leading Western media about the concentration of power in Yermak\u2019s hands and the erosion of democracy in Ukraine have been dismissed as &#8220;Russian information operations&#8221; (IPSO). Just like the warnings from certain Western outlets about the inevitability of a full-scale Russian invasion were dismissed in early 2022 as \u201cpanic and sabotage.\u201d The same people are addressing the same problem: maintaining the comfort of a monopoly on power and keeping society lulled.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"617\" data-end=\"908\">But the problems are multiplying. Their scale \u2014 and the chronic inability of the authorities to solve them \u2014 has long been crying out for the formation of a professional, independent Government of National Salvation. But Yermak opposes this because it would threaten the monopoly on power.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"910\" data-end=\"1047\">Zelenskyy will soon face a choice: Yermak or the country. Because too many of the country\u2019s problems now revolve around one man.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1049\" data-end=\"1419\">So far, Zelenskyy has chosen Yermak. And with every turn, the government chooses the wrong path, while the country holds on, not thanks to the authorities, but despite them. Yet in trying to bring everything under control, the President\u2019s Office is weakening this very resilience of Ukrainian society. Worse still, resources are not endless, and they are running out.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1421\" data-end=\"1576\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">As Trump likes to say, \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d In the meantime, we\u2019re off to the front \u2014 with yet another shipment of aid from the Poroshenko Foundation.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/patience-has-broken-in-why-yermak-is-increasingly-being-remembered-in-the-west\/\">Patience has broken in: why Yermak is increasingly being remembered in the West<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><em>The day before, the British edition of The Economist published an article stating that the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/yermak-keruie-kadrovymy-zminamy-v-uriadi-zmi-opryliudnyly-tsikavi-podrobytsi\/\">Yermak, is behind potential personnel changes in the government<\/a>, which may occur shortly. It is noted that Yermak is making attempts to remove certain officials, instead promoting the \u201cnecessary\u201d people for himself. Thus, according to three interlocutors who spoke on condition of anonymity, the head of the OP influenced the course of the Chernyshov case. In particular, it was he who allowed it to advance, while others were frozen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/dvopartiynyy-podraznyk-yermak-dedali-chastishe-vyklykaie-rozdratuvannia-u-vashynhtoni\/\">Yermak himself is increasingly becoming a source of irritation in Washington<\/a>. This is confirmed by more than a dozen sources among former and current US officials, as well as congressional aides. Some of the interlocutors describe Yermak as overly demanding, harsh in communication, and poorly informed about domestic US politics. Some express concerns that he may have inaccurately conveyed Washington\u2019s position to the Ukrainian leadership. One source described him as a\u201c <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/dvopartiyna-alerhiia-iak-u-yermaka-posypalasia-ameryka\/\">bipartisan irritant<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>At the same time, the head of the President&#8217;s Office, Andriy Yermak, is causing &#8220;bipartisan irritation&#8221; and the US administration&#8217;s reluctance to meet with him, since the current government in Ukraine <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/yermaka-ne-khochut-bachyty-u-ssha-u-chomu-prychyna-dvopartiynoho-rozdratuvannia\/\">has removed professional diplomats from the negotiation processes<\/a> without offering a sensible alternative in return, says well-known diplomat Valeriy Chaly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page There\u2019s an old saying that impudence is the second happiness, though for some, it\u2019s very clearly the first. Judging by recent events, it seems Andriy Yermak has finally persuaded President Zelensky to adopt this wisdom as official state policy. The refusal to appoint an inconvenient director of the BEB goes against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1258489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76885,76893],"class_list":["post-1258422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-policy","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1258422"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1258492,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258422\/revisions\/1258492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1258489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1258422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1258422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}