Opposition lawmaker calls for the declaration of persona non-grata to be made by outgoing ambassador
Kiev’s outgoing ambassador to Germany, Andrey Melnik, who infamously called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liverwurst,”A conservative German lawmaker said that the ban should apply to all foreigners.
Jens Lehmann on Facebook said Monday that the diplomat representing Ukraine in Germany should be open to acknowledging how much Berlin has provided Kiev with humanitarian, financial, and military aid.
This MP represents a constituency within Saxony and is a member the CDU/CSU alliance of center-right CDU/CSU.
The comments were sparked by Melnik’s latest round of German-bashing. Last week, Melnik announced that he hadn’t invited Michael Kretschmer to Ukraine as the minister-president of Saxony. Kretschmer is also the deputy leader of CDU.
Melnik’s proclamation Twitter followed remarks made by Kretschmer in an interview with German TV, calling for the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be frozen. Melnik claimed that he was siding with Moscow over Kiev.
“I invited you to Ukraine. This invitation has been canceled,”The ambassador added: “You are UNWANTED. Period.”
LEARN MORE
German officials are livid about the firing of a Ukrainian diplomat
Melnik is known for making scathing statements about his host country’s officials and has done so repeatedly. He has called Chancellor Scholz an “anonymous target” and have also targeted other officials in his host country. “offended liverwurst”because he delayed visiting Kiev.
Scholz did not visit Ukraine as quickly as other European leaders. That was due to the fact that Frank-Walter Steinmeier from Germany refused to accept Scholz’s invitation. A former head of state and foreign minister, Scholz was instrumental in encouraging a deal between Ukraine and the rebel forces in eastern Ukraine. However, Kiev refused to implement it. Russia used this as a reason to attack Ukraine late February.
Melnik was relieved by Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, in early July. He had assumed this post in 2015. In the beginning, he was expected to be in Germany for a few weeks as an acting ambassador before returning to Kiev and possibly becoming deputy foreign minister.
He will likely remain in office until around mid-October, according to current predictions. Berlin might be able to expedite Melnik’s departure by declaring him persona nongrata according to Lehmann.
Share this story via social media
[ad_2]
