Foreign ministry issues reassurances

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine issued a clarification following comments in the press concerning the appointment, or to be more exact, the non-appointment, of Ukrainian ambassadors. The government has been especially criticized for not having appointed ambassadors to such important countries as the UK, US, Germany, and Russia. On Nov. 17 First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko held a press conference, during which he said that the appointment of ambassadors is “proceeding according to plan.” Several stages have taken place since the beginning of the year and ambassadors have been posted to 16 countries. In addition, the foreign ministry expects 14 agrements (preliminary consent of a given country to receive a certain person as the head of another country’s diplomatic mission). Ukraine will thus finally have envoys in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Romania, and other countries. As for Russia, which is a very important country, Ohryzko announced that here, too, cadre changes are in order. The diplomat noted that he cannot say who would be appointed, where or when because this is contrary to established procedures. The new appointments will encompass 10 more countries. All told, 40 diplomats are expected to receive postings. Ohryzko stressed that the appointment of an ambassador is a very responsible task and that under no circumstances can mistakes be made: “This is a person who represents his government to another country. It must be an extremely accurate, precise, and well thought-out decision. There can be no mistakes here.”

On behalf of the foreign ministry Ohryzko somewhat ironically thanked the journalists for their interest in personnel matters related to domestic diplomacy and assured them that “we are also concerned with this matter and are working on it.” He added that “several months for diplomacy are standard procedure,” so there is nothing to worry about: “There were cases when some European countries took years to appoint their envoys to Ukraine... I want to dispel a myth. Even in the absence of an ambassador an embassy keeps working and its staff discharges all the required functions.”

The Day asked Ohryzko how Ukraine would respond to a six- month absence of the US ambassador, for example. The diplomat replied in general terms: “Of course, every country is interested in ambassadors being rotated as quickly as possible. However, this process may take longer owing to one matter or another.” Ohryzko did not provide any clear explanations. The diplomat’s reassuring tone was praiseworthy, but it should be recalled that Ukrainian diplomacy knows precedents when the lack of an ambassador had a negative effect on bilateral relations, as in the case of the French ambassador to Ukraine, who was absent for two years. The new government is now trying to correct shortcomings made by its predecessors (some of which are linked to the lack of an ambassador), by making frequent visits to Paris. Of course, there are also objective circumstances. For example, from what we know, Moscow is constantly rejecting candidacies proposed by Ukraine. There are signs, however, that the problem of mutual agreement will be removed from the agenda before long. Reliable sources have told The Day that the new Ukrainian ambassador to Poland will be Oleksandr Motsyk (current deputy state secretary of the president of Ukraine). Ihor Kharchenko (Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland) is supposed to be posted to Great Britain, and Oleh Shamshur, current deputy foreign minister, will leave for Washington.