Ukraine Is Sweetest in Mixed Reaction to Johnson Win
A Kyiv cafe celebrated the prime minister by baking a croissant topped with a wavy white meringue and a dollop of vanilla ice cream shaped to resemble Johnson’s famously unruly locks.

Like some of the most notable world leaders in history, the current British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is a polarizing figure — perhaps even more so after surviving yesterday’s no-confidence vote. That win hoisted him higher in the estimation of President Zelensky, who called Mr. Johnson “a true friend of Ukraine. I regard him as our ally, and Great Britain as a great ally.”
Kyiv’s Café Zavertailo went a step further, baking a “Boris Johnson croissant” in the prime minister’s honor. The Telegraph reported that the treat, inspired by English apple pie, is topped with a wavy white meringue and a dollop of vanilla ice cream shaped to resemble Mr. Johnson’s famously unruly locks. The idea for the pastry was baked up as a way to pay homage to one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers in the face of the Russian invasion, and was reportedly already selling out.
Russia was having none of it. A state media presenter, Olga Skabeyeva, is said to have denounced the croissant on Instagram. Another Russian television presenter, Vladimir Solovyov, intimated that Mr. Johnson’s popularity would take a hit if British fighters in Ukraine were killed by pro-Russian separatists: “When they are bumped off in Donetsk, Johnson will face questions because he couldn’t get the British nationals out,” he said.
Prior to Monday night’s vote, a former U.K. Independence Party leader, Nigel Farage, derided Mr. Johnson’s “car crash leadership” and he twisted the knife, Twitter style, after the vote: “A terrible result for Johnson. Gutless MPs should have finished the job.”
Spain’s El Mundo took a gentler tack, writing, “Boris Johnson has ceased to be the unscrupulous populist that the British conservative elite needed in order to carry out Brexit and has become an obstacle within his own party.” Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper deadpanned that it could be “harder to get rid of him than one thought.”
Le Monde proved again why it still graces so many Left Bank café tables: “Boris Johnson has survived the risk of sudden political death but he is seriously weakened and perhaps even fatally wounded,” it said, “especially within a conservative movement known for its regicides. How is this calamitous sequence going to end? It is difficult to say — internal Tory dynamics are so hard to understand.”
Dutch newspaper Volkskrant noted Mr. Johnson’s public heckling during the four-day Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, opining that “the booers were not left-wing activists but pro-royal Brits, the home crowd of the Conservatives.” The Dutch public broadcaster NOS declared that Mr. Johnson was “safe for now, but there are a lot of problems that will come his way. More than 40 percent of his party wants him gone. This is a battered prime minister.”
The view from Israel’s Channel 12 News after Mr. Johnson emerged essentially intact from his bruising ballot came with a heavy dose of sarcasm. The station’s political editor, Amit Segal, said, “Get a humiliating result in a confidence vote but hold on at all price. Break the law and keep your head high. Blame your aides for your failures. Congratulations Boris Johnson. You’re Britain’s first Israeli prime minister.”