EU hopes to have "good”, “reliable" partners in rebooted Ukrainian government

This was stated by EU spokesman Peter Stano during a briefing in Brussels on Thursday as he answered a question on the impact of the latest changes in the Ukrainian government composition may have on bilateral relations between the EU and Ukraine.

"This is of course something not for the European Union to comment on. We don’t comment on domestic decisions that are related to staffing or appointing people to government or public posts. However, it is important for the European Union to always have good and reliable partners on the other side so that means it is important to have good and stable governance. So we hope we will be able to continue very good cooperation with the new Ukrainian counterparts in the same way as we did with the outgoing ministers," said the EU spokesperson.

He noted that the European side, which closely monitors the developments in Ukraine not only in the fight against Russian aggression, but also in the context of domestic transformations and evolution in the political landscape, took note of the "reboot" of the Ukrainian government and changes in key state positions.

"When it comes to Foreign Minister Kuleba, I can only recall the appreciation the High Representative (Josep Borrell - ed.) holds for Mr. Kuleba, for everything he did for Ukraine, and for everything they did together. Minister Kuleba was a regular guest to the Foreign Affairs Councils, both formal and informal. There was very frequent communication and coordination between High Representative Borrell and Minister Kuleba. We can only praise Minister Kuleba for everything he did in the testing and very hard times for Ukraine," the spokesman emphasized.

Answering the journalists' question of whether the Ukrainian side agreed with the EU on such personnel reshuffles, the spokesman once again recalled that Ukraine, like any other country, is sovereign in its right to decide how to set up the government or public offices provided that all constitutional requirements are observed and respected.

"This is really not for us to comment on the process or to disclose whether we were informed or not, this is something for the Ukrainian administration to deal with. I can only recall that Wwat’s important for us is to always have good and reliable functioning counterparts on the other side. Ukraine is a candidate country for the European Union. Ukraine is a country fighting for survival in a war of self-defense. So, who occupies what positions in government is a sovereign decision of this country and its authorities," added Stano.

On September 4, the Verkhovna Rada approved the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, as well as the heads of the Ministry of Strategic Industry, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Environment.

On September 5, people's deputies supported the resignation of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. Andrii Sybiha was appointed new Minister for Foreign Affairs.