Earlier than expected, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, recalled Andriy Melnyk from his post as ambassador to Germany on Saturday.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Melnyk became the best-known foreign diplomat in Germany.

Because of his often harsh criticism of Berlin and his demands for arms deliveries, he was feared as a "nuisance".

He was recently criticized for an interview with statements about the former Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera.

At the beginning of last week it was reported that Melnyk should be replaced.

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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Selenskyj tried not to hang the process on the big bell.

Several decrees appeared on the website of the President's Office in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon.

As is usually the case, they were short and without any reasoning.

“I signed decrees today dismissing some ambassadors.

This issue of rotation is a common part of diplomatic practice," Zelenskyy later said in a video message.

"New representatives of Ukraine will be appointed for the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Norway and India," Zelenskyy said.

The list of candidates is prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

All five ambassadors had been in office for an above-average length of time, at least since 2017, Melnyk even since 2015. A spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin said: "The office has not yet been notified of the ambassador's dismissal."

A gesture to Poland?

There was speculation in Kyiv that the early recall was also a gesture to Poland, with which Ukraine has maintained a particularly close partnership since the outbreak of war.

After all, figures like Bandera are a hot topic between the two countries: during the Second World War, under German occupation, Ukrainian nationalists murdered tens of thousands of Polish civilians as well as Jews.

Melnyk had said that Bandera could not be called a "mass murderer" because he was himself imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp at the time in question.

July 11 is Poland's commemoration day for the largest massacre of civilians in the Volhynia region.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda also wants to comment on this day.

Apparently, the 46-year-old Melnyk will become one of three deputy foreign ministers after his return to Kyiv;

with which responsibility is still unclear.

The President has the last word on such foreign policy-relevant appointments.

Melnyk told the FAZ on Sunday that his term of office would formally "probably end in a few weeks".

Then he and his family – the Melnyks have two children – would emigrate to Ukraine.

"Germany remains in our hearts," said Melnyk, "saying goodbye is difficult for us.

I was on post in Germany twice, I have a very close relationship with this country, which was also a kind of love-hate relationship at times.”

Finally self-critical

During his time as ambassador, i.e. since the start of the Russian-controlled war in eastern Ukraine, he had "rejected other job offers" in order to be able to continue his mission in Germany.

Most recently, he had shown understanding for criticism of his person: "We are all human and we make mistakes.

You also try to correct these mistakes and learn from them," he told the Schwäbische Zeitung.

Melnyk told Die Zeit that during this war he cried "almost every day" in the evenings when he read the news from Ukraine.

The Vice President of the Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt paid tribute to the diplomat.

“Andriy Melnyk did everything in his power for his country.

He is an unmistakable and tireless voice for a free Ukraine," said the Green politician.

She also criticized Melnyk's statements about Bandera.

The chair of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), said of Melnyk: "He tried to open our eyes and shake us up." For his pressure "so that we can finally speed up our support for Ukraine, you have to be grateful to him".

CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter recalled that Melnyk had pointed out the Russian threat before the attack in February.

His "not always diplomatic tone" was "more than understandable in view of the incomprehensible war crimes and the suffering for the Ukrainian people".