Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has appointed Yaroslav Chornohor as the official responsible for contacts with Belarusian democratic forces. Chornohor will serve as the Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large for issues related to democratic transformations, interaction with democratic forces and national movements in unfriendly countries.
Yaroslav Chornohor is the director of Russian and Belarusian studies programs at the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism.”
The publication notes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously announced plans to appoint a special representative for Belarus. However, the search for a candidate was delayed, which also postponed the visit of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to Kyiv. No decree appointing a special representative has yet been issued.
According to European Pravda, Chornohor’s appointment within the Foreign Ministry will make it possible to improve interaction with Belarusian democratic forces without waiting for a presidential decree. The publication also expressed the opinion that the appointment would unblock preparations for Tsikhanouskaya’s visit.
“Today a new stage of my life path began. Over the past 10 years, I have gone from being an academic scholar volunteering to help wounded soldiers in a military hospital to becoming a participant in the Anti-Terrorist Operation, an officer in the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then, after military service, director of programs at the Foreign Policy Council ‘Ukrainian Prism’ in the public sector. And now I am returning to service, this time diplomatic service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
And the main factor behind the changes in my life remains the aggressor state and its satellite — Putin’s Russian Federation and Lukashenka’s Republic of Belarus. Confronting them is a serious challenge, and I have accepted it.
Diplomatic service in the Department of Unfriendly Countries will give me greater opportunities to counter our enemies,” Chornohor wrote about his appointment on Facebook.
