Ukrainian Ambassador
Melnyk does not want to “shut up” as ex-ambassador
The outgoing Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andriy Melnyk will leave Germany this week. photo
© Christophe Gateau/dpa
Andriy Melnyk returns to Ukraine this week. Nevertheless, one can expect one or the other comment in Germany. His successor has already been determined.
The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk wants to interfere with comments in German politics even after his return to Kyiv. Although he does not want to get in the way of his successor and does not want to be a substitute ambassador, Melnyk told the German Press Agency before his departure, which was planned for Saturday. “But I can’t promise I’ll shut up.” It could be that he “makes one or the other comment – even sharp ones – when I see that something is going wrong in Germany when it comes to supporting my homeland”.
Melnyk is leaving Germany on Saturday after almost eight years as ambassador. He said goodbye on Friday via Twitter.
In Kyiv he will take a new job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is under discussion as deputy foreign minister, but the government has not yet made a final decision on this. “That’s why I’m curious about what’s in store for me. I’ll probably see President Zelenskyj on Tuesday. And hopefully he’ll tell me personally where he sees me in his big team.” For him, it is not the position that matters, but what he can really achieve.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed current ambassador Melnyk from his post in mid-July. Melnyk had not only made a name for himself with often harsh criticism of the federal government since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.