And the speech of the year 2022 is<p>...</p>

On Boxing Day, when half the Netherlands was still eating Christmas breakfast, panelists Julia Wouters, Huib Hudig and Jurjen van den Bergh joined De Nieuws BV on NPO Radio 1. Together with Patrick Lodiers, the best and most striking speeches of the year were discussed. Of course the impressive speech of Rutte about the slavery past and the Christmas message of the king were discussed.

But in the end, of course, only one man could be the winner: Vlodymyr Zelensky. Among all the misery, a contemporary fairy tale, this unlikely story of the former TV actor who became president and, to everyone's surprise - not least Putin's own - turned out to be an unyielding fighter for a free Ukraine. He has given many speeches this year that would have deserved the first prize, such as the urgent and lived speech he recently delivered to the U.S. Congress. Ultimately chosen for his first major speech was the video message in which he addressed the Russian people in their own language and won many hearts.

In this rock-solid performance, he debunked some of Putin's "frames" about the "Nazi government" in Kiev. Zelensky calls for peace, underlines the fraternization between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples and establishes his credibility, including by telling of his own grandfather who fought for the Red Army.

Still he manages to get through to us, still his speeches are topical, still his message is heard. Already one of the great speakers of history. Ladies and gentlemen: Vlodymyr Zelensky!

Watch and listen back here as the speech panel puts Zelensky's development as an orator under a magnifying glass over the past year.