'Leader of the free world' departs Prague
Dep. Foreign Min. Eduard Hulicius wrote on X yesterday in Czech that he had the undeserved honor of saying goodbye at the airport on behalf of the country to the "leader of the free world," Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky. The superlative "leader" had been used on Sun. by Hulicius's boss, Foreign Min. Jan Lipavský, after he met Zelensky's arriving flight. Lipavský later tried to fudge on Czech TV by saying that the U.S. president is still definitely the leader of the free world but that Zelensky is "truly the leader of the free world." Lipavský might have gotten away with this doublespeak if he hadn't used the definite article in his initial English-language tweet in referring to Zelensky. It was a clear jab at Donald Trump. The reality is that everyone in the "free world," including Zelensky, is following Trump and is hanging on his every word. This could change under many possible scenarios, but not a single one of them culminates in Zelensky taking over the leadership role of the U.S. president.
Glossary of difficult words
superlative - the highest degree of comparison; an exaggerated or hyperbolical expression of praise;to fudge - to present or deal with (something) in a vague or inadequate way, esp. so as to conceal the truth or mislead;
doublespeak - deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous or obscure language;
definite article - a determiner ("the" in English) used to refer to identified or specified people or things;
jab - a sudden and unpleasant critical remark;
to hang on someone's every word - to listen very carefully to what someone says.