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Diplomatic deficit: why Ukraine cannot find ambassadors to 30 countries

ANALYSIS

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering possible candidates to replace Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, The Washington Post reports. The information was confirmed by a Ukrainian official, noting that the process of reviewing candidates is underway. However, several dozen other countries have problems with personnel policy in diplomacy. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is a shortage of diplomats in almost 30 Ukrainian embassies. Which countries have lost contact with Ukraine today and how the Oksana Markarova scandal will affect relations between Ukraine and the United States Komersant ukrainskyi.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington has not yet commented on the information about the replacement of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States. Earlier, however, allies of US President-elect Donald Trump, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, called on Zelenskyy to fire Markarova after his visit to the US in September. The reason for the criticism by American politicians was that Republicans were allegedly not invited to a defense plant in Pennsylvania that Zelenskyy visited.

Ukraine without an ambassador to Moldova: Danilov’s appointment is delayed

Moldova has held elections, but Ukraine remains without an official ambassador to the neighboring country. It is known that the previous ambassador, Mark Shevchenko, was dismissed back in March. At the time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov would take over the position. However, as of today, the appointment has not been made.

MP Mariana Bezuhla drew attention to this situation by writing on Telegram: “Danilov is still not an ambassador to Moldova.” She also expressed concern about the delay:

“It’s good that a pro-European candidate won in Moldova, it’s a shame that we still don’t have an ambassador there. I ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to pay attention to this situation.”

Currently, the role of Charge d’Affaires of Ukraine in the Republic of Moldova is fulfilled by Natalia Sirenko, who attended the fifth Ukrainian Film Days festival in Moldova the day before. Sirenko emphasized the importance of truth in the fight against Russian disinformation.

More than a year without ambassadors to the Czech Republic and Georgia

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explains why Ukraine has not yet appointed an ambassador to the Czech Republic. He noted that after Yevhen Perebyinis ‘ term of service in Prague ended, he was appointed to an important post of deputy minister. According to Kuleba, a thorough search for a “perfect candidate” is underway, given the exceptional importance of relations with the Czech Republic.

Czech President Petr Pavel previously commented that the absence of a Ukrainian ambassador in Prague did not have a significant impact on bilateral relations, but noted that contacts had slowed down somewhat. The Czech Republic has also repeatedly called on Ukraine to speed up the appointment process.

Similar staffing difficulties are occurring in Georgia. Ukraine’s Charge d’Affaires Mykhailo Kharyshyn said that back in October 2022, Ukraine received consent from Tbilisi to appoint a new ambassador. However, complications arose in the process of approving the candidate, partly due to unclear rhetoric from the Georgian authorities.

Relations between Kyiv and Tbilisi have remained tense since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was the result of the Georgian government’s decision not to impose sanctions against Russia. In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled the then Ambassador Ihor Dolhov, and currently, no Ukrainian ambassador to Georgia has been appointed.

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Lack of diplomats hinders Ukraine’s foreign policy

Igar Tyshkevych, an expert of the International and Domestic Policy Program at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, said in an exclusive commentary that the problem of the lack of ambassadors in many countries is only part of a deeper crisis in the personnel policy of Ukrainian diplomacy.

“Ukraine has been facing a shortage of diplomats since 2017. Back then, we had no ambassadors in 32 key countries, and today the situation is similar. Often, people are appointed on an emergency basis when the situation is already critical,”

– says Igar Tyshkevych

He also drew attention to the gap between the analytical community, the diplomatic corps and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which negatively affects the synchronization of work on export and foreign policy. According to him, the lack of coordination and staff shortages in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lead to the fact that candidates for positions are often selected based on political preferences rather than professional qualities.

“We don’t have enough competent diplomats who could apply for the positions of ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary. It looks ridiculous when they try to organize a competition for the position of ambassador without having a high-quality personnel reserve,”

– Tyshkevych said, citing the example of the appointment of Oksana Markarova, which, in his opinion, points to systemic problems.

The situation with ambassadors in countries with autocratic governments is especially difficult, where stability is important, not frequent changes of personnel due to political fluctuations in Ukraine. Tyshkevych emphasizes that this problem was relevant both under the previous and current presidents of Ukraine, as national interests are often overlooked.

“Our government does not work systematically, focusing on long-term strategies based on common interests. Instead, it prefers short-term tactics or emotional attitudes towards individuals,”

– summarizes Igar Tyshkevych.

Ukraine without ambassadors: almost 30 countries are waiting for the appointment of Ukrainian diplomats

As of today, 64 of Ukraine’s foreign diplomatic missions are headed by ambassadors, while ambassadorships remain vacant in almost 30 countries. This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in a commentary for Babel.

Among the countries where there are currently no Ukrainian ambassadors are Algeria, Angola, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Ghana, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Moldova, Norway, Oman, Rwanda, Philippines, Thailand, Tanzania, Turkey, Hungary, and Vietnam.

In some of these countries, where embassies were opened only recently, ambassadors have not yet been appointed. In particular, the embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was opened on April 10, in Côte d’Ivoire on April 11, and in Mozambique on April 15.

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Author: Anastasia Fedor