“Should get his buttocks up”
Melnyk rages against his successor
05/09/2023 02:23 am
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Melnyk fired again at his successor as ambassador in Berlin. He recently defended himself against allegations and is now hearing even sharper tones from Kiev.
The former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, has made serious allegations against his successor, Oleksii Makeiev, for the second time in a very short space of time. “By trampling on everything that his predecessor created with sweat and blood, Mr. Makeiev threw a gauntlet in my face,” Melnyk, who is now Deputy Foreign Minister in Kiev, told the editorial network Germany (RND).
“It was an unforgivable mistake, for example, to ignore the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tiergarten Memorial on May 8, which has been traditional since 2015. That Mr. Makeiev had a long-standing request to the Bundestag to erect a memorial for millions of Ukrainian victims of the Nazi reign of terror in Berlin – as for our Polish sisters and brothers – thrown in the rubbish bin is a slap in the face to our ancestors.”
Melnyk indirectly accused his successor of not doing his job properly. “Instead of getting nervous in an arrogant way and tweeting at the top of your lungs, Mr Makeiev should take the justified criticism from the capital Kiev more seriously,” said Melnyk. “He should get his buttocks off, finally get loud about vital issues such as German fighter jets and warships and joining NATO and deliver results.”
Makeiev responded to allegations
About two weeks ago, Melnyk had already made critical comments about Makeiev to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. He therefore has little contact with him. The reason: “Very different perspectives.” A year ago, the Ukrainians could have had a “strong say and even steered” the debate about arms deliveries in Berlin, said the ex-ambassador. “My successor does it differently. Now we just go with the flow, let ourselves drift. We were thrown back, smiling and waving.”
Makeiev responded to the allegations in an interview with “Spiegel”: “I am now the ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin. And the results of the arms deliveries are impressive. You can also see the reactions in Germany to these unfortunate attacks by my predecessor. ‘ ‘Highly unprofessional’ was one of the reviews.”
Huge budgets are planned for the next few years. “Contracts have been signed with armaments manufacturers,” Makeiev said. He has also “spoken many times with the chancellor, the federal president, the foreign minister and the defense minister. Every door is open to me.” It should have been different with its predecessor.
Melnyk had once reluctantly had to vacate his post and would have liked to have stayed in Berlin. During his time as ambassador in Germany, he repeatedly drew attention to himself with vehement demands for arms deliveries – and was also offended. Verbal attacks on politicians and other actors also caused scandals on several occasions. In Kiev, too, his strategy of putting pressure on Germany in this direct way drew criticism.