Fake: Germany proposes expelling Ukrainian ambassador

Russian media claim that Germany is allegedly looking into expelling Ukrainian Ambassador Andrij
Melnyk. Izvestia reports that the German position is allegedly based on the assumption that the
Ukrainian diplomat has gone too far, allowing himself hate speech against German policies, which goes
against diplomatic rules. In fact, there is no talk of any diplomatic scandal. The Russian media are trying
to present the situation in a way favorable to the Kremlin, while this is all about a petition registered on
change.org. That is, Moscow is manipulating public opinion by claiming that a petition on an
international website represents actual interests of the majority of Germans and that it is a call on the
German authorities to act. In fact, Ambassador Melnyk is not being expelled from Germany, while
Russian diplomats are, which is an absolutely logical and proven fact. The German federal government
has declared 40 Russian diplomats personae non grata.

As is known, such petitions have long been an acceptable way of monitoring public opinion and
analyzing the existing issues. In fact, anyone could file a petition on change.org, which could be signed
regardless of citizenship or nationality. Such efforts are designed to draw attention to a particular
problem, not to oblige official bodies to act or respond, having no legal force whatsoever. Signatories
are allowed to remain anonymous, with each signature being linked only to an email address. The
author of the petition calling for the Ukrainian ambassador to be expelled is Jurgen Peters from
Germany. There is no information other than the name and country in the author’s profile. It is also
impossible to see who exactly supported the petition. As of April 13, the move was supported by about
19,000 users, and it is quite possible that these votes were pumped up by the Russians. At the same
time, petitions filed against Russia’s war in Ukraine are created on a daily basis, being signed by
hundreds of thousands of people around the world that’s without coercion and cheating.

In fact, the issue of the Ukrainian ambassador’s expulsion from Germany is not on the table. Against the
backdrop of Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine, Ambassador Andrij Melnyk has been consistent in
criticizing the stance of German authorities on Russia, which has been slowing down arms supplies and
introduction of Russia sanctions. German President FrankWalter Steinmeier even had to publicly
explain his position in the wake of Melnyk’s statements. The head of the CSU parliamentary group in the
Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, noted that Melnyk represents his country perfectly, being in a situation
that is hard to fathom.

At the same time, a completely different situation has developed as regards Russian diplomats in
Germany. The German federal government declared 40 Russian diplomats personae non grata after the
world saw the fallout of the Russian occupation of Kyiv region. Obviously, this cannot but upset and
anger the Russian side, which is trying to somehow level the accusations, now looking for more pretexts
to denigrate Ukraine and its Western partners in the ongoing confrontation. This is confirmed by
multiple fake reports that have filled the Russian information space. The main task of such information
attacks is to justify the aggressive terrorist actions in Ukraine and to provoke even greater aggression
and support for the Kremlin’s predatory intentions.

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