Ukraine Fires Its Ambassador to Germany After Controversial Remarks

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, fired his ambassador to Germany, every week after the diplomat gave an interview by which he defended the legacy of a World Conflict II nationalist chief who collaborated with the Nazis.

Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin since 2014, was one of the acknowledged faces of the Ukrainian trigger in Germany, by no means shying away from leveling fierce criticism of what many noticed as Germany’s gradual response to the Russian invasion and infrequently scary the ire of the nation’s political elite.

However in an interview on the present Jung & Nai, which streamed on YouTube on June 29, Mr. Melnyk defended the reminiscence of Stepan Bandera, the chief of the far-right Group of Ukrainian Nationalists throughout World Conflict II. The nationalist group, which espoused fascist ideology, collaborated with German forces once they occupied Ukraine and a few of these forces assisted within the mass murders of Poles and Jews.

Mr. Bandera was in a roundabout way concerned within the killings, as a result of he was arrested in Ukraine in 1941 and positioned in “honorable internment” by the Nazis in a focus camp outdoors Berlin for making an attempt to determine an impartial Ukraine. Assassinated by Soviet spies in Munich in 1959, Mr. Bandera remains to be revered by part of the Ukrainian inhabitants for his management of the nationalist trigger, significantly within the west, the place there are statues of Mr. Bandera and streets named after him.

However in Germany, which prides itself on its dedication to acknowledging Nazi crimes and commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, questioning that chapter in historical past is a crimson line.

Mr. Melnyk already raised eyebrows in Germany a number of years earlier for visiting Mr. Bandera’s grave in Munich. When confronted within the June 29 interview in regards to the historical past of the OUN’s function in massacres, and Mr. Bandera’s anti-Semitic views, Mr. Melnyk stated there was no proof for the claims, that are undisputed in tutorial circles.

“That’s the narrative that the Russians are pushing to at the present time, and that has assist in Germany, in Poland, and in addition in Israel,” he stated.

Mr. Melnyk’s feedback instantly stirred condemnation from German officers, in addition to from Israel’s embassy in Germany. Two ministers in Poland, considered one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters because the Russian invasion, additionally decried the statements. That prompted Kyiv to distance itself from Mr. Melnyk, saying his views didn’t characterize Ukraine’s place.

A fluent German speaker, Mr. Melnyk was identified in Germany for his passionate advocacy for extra weapons for Ukraine to defend itself towards the Russian invasion. He didn’t shrink back from colourful criticism, equivalent to calling Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “insulted liverwurst” for delaying a go to to Kyiv within the spring. The German expression, which loosely interprets into being a prima donna, outraged a lot of Germany’s political institution. But it surely gained him avid supporters in Germany amongst these annoyed with their nation’s sluggish assist.

Regardless of the frequent controversies stirred by Mr. Melnyk’s feedback, he had been seen as an asset to elevating consideration to Ukraine in a rustic the place pacifist leanings throughout the political institution have led to hesitancy in supplying weapons.

On Saturday, Mr. Zelensky introduced Mr. Melnyk’s dismissal together with that of the ambassadors of India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.