The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin loses his post. This emerges from a decree of the Ukrainian President. So far it is unclear what role Andriy Melnyk will take on in the future. A few days ago it was said that he could take on an important position in Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Andriy Melnyk as Ukraine's ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. This emerges from a decree by Zelenskyy published by the Presidential Office in Kyiv.
Melnyk, who has been in office for an unusually long time for an ambassador since 2015, was fired as part of a major swap of ambassadors. MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, who belongs to the opposition but is usually well informed, referred to a report in the "Bild" newspaper on his Telegram channel, according to which the diplomat could move to Kyiv as deputy foreign minister. "We are waiting for confirmation," said Honcharenko.
The "Bild" newspaper wrote just a few days ago that the 46-year-old from Lviv in western Ukraine could leave Berlin before the fall. The newspaper quotes a Ukrainian official as saying that Melnyk is "very much appreciated in Kyiv for his work".
It is surprising that the change has come so quickly. Although Melnyk is better known in Germany than in Ukraine, he is also a prominent diplomat in Kyiv. Most recently, he made headlines when he spoke about the controversial Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera in an interview with the journalist Tilo Jung. Among other things, Melnyk had claimed that there was no evidence of the mass murder of Jews and Poles by Bandera supporters in World War II.
The statements made by the Ukrainian ambassador led, among other things, to a telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine, in which the Polish side expressed their dissatisfaction. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry subsequently distanced itself from Melnyk's statements. It is possible that this process accelerated the diplomat's dismissal. For the time being, nothing is known about successor candidates for Melnyk.
Melnyk had repeatedly caused irritation, especially in the SPD, because he had repeatedly called for stronger support for his country with weapons in clear words. Ukraine was invaded by Russia on February 24 and the country has been defending itself against the invading troops ever since. According to Western observers, it is urgently dependent on Western aid.
