With his comments on the Ukrainian nationalist leader Bandera, Ambassador Melnyk not only attracted a great deal of criticism – he even persuaded his own government in Kyiv to distance himself. The German anti-Semitism commissioner makes a suggestion for an approximation.
The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, has criticized the Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk for his statements about the Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. “I think Ambassador Melnyk’s statements about Stepan Bandera, an extremely controversial personality, are problematic,” Klein told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “They feed the Russian narrative in the current conflict and tend to cause division and misunderstanding among friendly states.”
In an interview, Melnyk denied that Bandera, as a Nazi collaborator, was partly responsible for pogroms and the murder of 800,000 Jews in Ukraine. “I doubt he gave orders to kill Jews,” Melnyk said. “There is no evidence.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry then distanced itself from Melnyk. “The opinion of the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, which he expressed in an interview with a German journalist, is his personal one and does not reflect the position of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry,” Kyiv said.
Klein appealed to Ukraine to submit an application to join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). “This intergovernmental organization is the appropriate forum in which the issues raised by Mr. Melnyk can be discussed in an international, differentiated manner,” said the government representative.
Klein regretted that the Ukrainian government had so far been reluctant to join the IHRA. “The debate triggered by Ambassador Melnyk should be an opportunity to quickly seek admission,” he said.
