Is Zelenskiy Serious Enough to be President? – Melinda Haring

Leading presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy might not be serious enough to be president of Ukraine, according to Melinda Haring, the editor of Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert blog.

“You could make an argument that he’s not presidential enough, that he’s not serious enough to be the president,” she claimed on the Sunday Show.

Zelenskiy is widely known as a comedic actor who successfully built a multi-million dollar entertainment business as an effective executive. His Kvartal 95 film production studio is one of Ukraine’s most successful private enterprises.

READ MORE: Ukraine's Poroshenko and Zelenskiy Have More in Common Than You Think

Haring also noted the fact that the hopeful candidate has no direct foreign policy experience. However, it is not unprecedented to elect a civilian president in democratic countries,  among them - the United States.

Playing the president is very different than being the real president. He has no foreign policy experience, Ukraine is at war, he’s named no serious foreign policy advisors.

Zelenskiy has very few ties with Ukraine’s political establishment and his team is still unknown.

He has a reputation as someone who is not trusting, and he is probably going to rely on his comedy troupe and the people he's known for the big decisions.