Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin has described the replacement of approximately 20 Ukrainian ambassadors as a predictable and normal rotation process, which could have a positive impact on Ukraine’s image abroad, particularly if accompanied by active advocacy amid global transformations.
According to Ukrinform, the diplomat shared this view during a broadcast on Radio Svoboda (Ukrainian Service of RFE/RL).
“This (replacement of around 20 Ukrainian ambassadors – ed.) is not some kind of personnel tsunami within the system. It is a fairly predictable development that has been in preparation for quite some time,” Klimkin noted.
He added that, in his opinion, many of the appointments “make absolute sense and are very successful,” mentioning that he knows some of these individuals personally, while for “ some of the other appointments, time will tell”.
“There is always an element of risk… If these people work effectively, are listened to, and can generate bold ideas, I will personally be very pleased,” the diplomat said.
The former minister further remarked that replacing around 20 ambassadors is not an excessively large number, noting that those diplomats who are to be replaced have already served four years in their respective countries of assignment, which he called “a normal development.”
Klimkin also observed that in contemporary politics, ambassadors have limited influence over intergovernmental relations, yet they can significantly shape perceptions of Ukraine in their host countries, making their individual qualities particularly important.
“In my view, the era of what we conventionally call advocacy is not completely over, but the opportunities for advocacy have narrowed not two- or threefold, but twenty- or thirtyfold. Now we must build very complex, rational, sometimes even cynical dialogues with those we need, especially in the non-Western world. But even the Western world is changing at lightning speed,” the diplomat concluded.
As reported by Ukrinform, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha confirmed the replacement of Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. In total, approximately 20 presidential decrees on the dismissal and appointment of heads of foreign diplomatic missions are expected.
