Controversial Diplomat: Zelensky sacked Ambassador Melnyk

Ukrainian President Zelensky has recalled his country’s ambassador to Germany, Melnyk. Melnik has been increasingly criticized recently. However, dismissal is a normal process, Zelenskyj emphasized.

Ambassador of Ukraine Andriy Melnyk to vacate his post in Germany. President Volodymyr Zelensky recalled the 46-year-old diplomat, as did Ukrainian ambassadors in Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary and India. The reasons were there Decree issued by the Office of the President in Kyiv I do not know.

Selenskyj talked about a normal process. “This issue of circulation is a common part of diplomatic practice,” he said in a video message, without naming any of the five diplomats. It was initially unclear whether Melnyk would be appointed ambassador to Kyiv or another high-ranking post after his dismissal.

The Ukrainian embassy in Berlin declined to comment on the order. According to Czech media, the spokesperson of the Ukrainian embassy in Prague also spoke about the planned transfer of several ambassadors. A spokesman for the Foreign Office, when contacted, said: “The Foreign Office has not yet been notified of the ambassador’s dismissal.”

Also known for undiplomatic actions

Melnyk has been ambassador to Germany since January 2015 – an exceptionally long tenure for a diplomat. For the past few months, he had created a stir by strongly criticizing the central government. Among other things, he accused President Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his ministers of being too reluctant to provide weapons to fight Russian aggressors in Ukraine.

Melnik did not shy away from the most vivid words. As Scholz After Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was not invited Initially canceled the trip to Kyiv, Melnyk Scholz was called a “guilty liver sausage”, but later apologized for it.

Melnyk accused the federal president of being too close to Russia. Steinmeier has been building a “cobweb of contacts” for decades – Melnik actually told “Dagespiegel”. According to “Spiegel,” the ambassador described Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael Roth as “an ass.”

Criticism of reports on Bandera

He himself came under fire last week for his statements about Ukrainian nationalist and anti-Semite Stephen Bandera. Bandera was the leader of the radical wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) during World War II. Nationalist partisans of western Ukraine were responsible for ethnically motivated expulsions in 1943 that killed tens of thousands of Polish and Jewish civilians.

In an interview with journalist Thilo Jung, Melnyk denied that Bandera had killed Jews and Poles. Nationalism was deliberately demonized by the Soviet Union. The Israeli embassy later accused the ambassador of “distorting historical facts, playing down the Holocaust, and insulting those killed by Bandera and his people.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from Melnyk’s statements.

After several days of silence, Melnyk rejected accusations that his statements about Bandera had trivialized the Holocaust. “Anyone who knows me knows: I have always condemned the Holocaust in the strongest possible terms,” ​​Melnyk wrote on Twitter. The allegations against him are “absurd”.

Göring-Eckardt: “The Tireless Voice for a Free Ukraine”

Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt paid tribute to Melnik after his impeachment. “Andriy Melnyk has worked with all his might for his country. He is a clear and tireless voice for an independent Ukraine,” the Green politician said, but stressed that he disagreed with Melnyk when it came to Bandera as a person. “Regardless of that, I wish him personally, all the best for his future service and above all to his country.”

Melnyk recently admitted to errors in his communications. He can understand the criticism of his person, he told the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. “In retrospect, I regret many of the emotional statements.” The Embassy of Ukraine in Berlin published the interview on its website on Friday. Regarding the Russian attack on his country, Melnyk said: “My work as a diplomat in Germany is becoming political. (…) even if I don’t want it to be.” His mission was to “make people in Germany understand what the bloodiest war on our continent has ever seen since World War II.”