As Ukrainian ambassador, Melnik had campaigned vehemently for his country’s interests since the outbreak of war. But his verbal blunders and his worship of a Ukrainian fascist have now brought him down.
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“NZZ Akzent”: Ukraine Ambassador: No longer wearable!
Author
Nadine Landert, Sebastian Panholzer
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In this podcast episode:
When Andri Melnik was appointed ambassador to Germany at the end of 2014, he was not a welcome guest at the Federal Foreign Office. He openly criticized Germany’s proximity to Russia. However, Melnik was largely unknown to a broader public. That changed abruptly with the outbreak of war in February. Melnik campaigned vehemently for the interests of his country and did so with media impact on Twitter, in interviews and various talk shows.
He increasingly made headlines with provocative statements and verbal gaffes. Melnik described the SPD politician Michael Roth as an “asshole” and Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an “offended liverwurst”. But in the end, Melnik’s admiration for the fascist partisan leader Stepan Bandera is his undoing.
In the new episode of “NZZ Akzent”, Germany correspondent Oliver Maksan talks about the case of the Ukrainian ambassador Melnik and how he became increasingly a burden for Ukraine.
All episodes of “NZZ Akzent” can be found in this overview.
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