Foreign Affairs Ministry recalls diplomat who signed letter of protest (12/05/04)

Foreign Affairs Ministry recalls diplomat who signed letter of protest

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ukraine has recalled a Washington-based diplomat apparently in connection with a letter penned last week that demanded that "the results of the elections reflect the true will of the people as the only source of power in Ukraine."

Oleksander Potiekhin, the diplomat and a co-author of the November 22 statement that was written together with three other officials stationed at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, has been immediately recalled to Kyiv, he told The Ukrainian Weekly.

Mr. Potiekhin said it was obvious that his recall was "political punishment," and said "they will fire me if the present government stays in office."

Volodymyr Yelchenko, the first vice minister for foreign affairs in Ukraine, sent a letter to Mr. Potiekhin requesting that he return to Kyiv no later than December 6. Mr. Potiekhin acknowledged that Ukrainian diplomats are regularly rotated to different assignments, but they are traditionally given up to a month notification. "Even if there is some sort of accident and you have to leave, they will usually have two weeks," he said.

"I'm going back. This is not a question," he said, though he added that he was not in a rush to return to Kyiv. Mr. Potiekhin also told The Ukrainian Weekly that, "as a result of some pressure from the Ukrainian diaspora onto my government, my ambassador said I can stay 10 days longer." The extension was given by Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Mykhailo B. Reznik, Mr. Potiekhin believes, because his wife is undergoing medical treatments in the United States.

On November 22 the four diplomats made a statement that read in part: "Guided by our conscience, our professional pride and our oath to loyally serve the Ukrainian state, we express our solidarity with the voice of the Ukrainian people. That voice is an expression of protest against the violation of our citizens' right to elect a president by democratic means."

Mr. Potiekhin said his replacement is in place in Washington and he is now working with that person to ensure a smooth transfer of his responsibilities to the incoming diplomat.

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