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AFP
Kiev
Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky’s election will see Ukraine led for the first time by a president of Jewish descent, in a landmark for a country with a long history of anti-Semitism.
The 41-year-old actor won a landslide victory against incumbent Petro Poroshenko on Sunday.
His triumph has been hailed as a sign of tolerance in the ex-Soviet country accused by some of having a lax attitude towards neo-Nazi groups.
Ukraine already has a Jewish prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, also 41, and who is to remain in office pending parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
The chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kiev, Moshe Reuvan Azman called Zelenky’s win “a miracle.” “This says a lot about the maturity of the Ukrainian people,” he told AFP.
“Relations between Ukrainians and Jews have not always been easy,” he noted.
“Ukraine is the only country in the world, aside from Israel, where the president and prime minister are Jewish,” Eduard Dolinsky, a Jewish community leader, wrote on Facebook.
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24/04/2019
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