"Hard to Say Anything Positive About New Ukraine Cabinet" - Atlantic Council's Melinda Haring

06 March 2020 20:55

Commenting of the latest reshuffle in Ukraine’s government, deputy director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council fails to understand why Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this decision.

Commenting on the latest reshuffle in Ukraine’s government on Hromadske’s Weekly Wrap-Up, Melinda Haring, the deputy director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council said that she had failed to understand why Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this decision.

“It's really hard to say anything positive about the new government. The only positive thing I can say in the entire new Cabinet is Dmytro Kuleba . I am convinced he is a real reformer and pro-Western and that he'll maintain Ukraine's Western orientation.”

Haring believes that the rest of the ministers are uninspiring and “old Ukraine”.

She goes as far as saying that some parliamentarians and members of the civil society compared it to the “worst days of Poroshenko and even [Viktor] Yanukovych.”

At the same time, she calls on Ukrainians to be measured and give the new Cabinet a chance, however, noting that so far “the picture looks incredibly bleak”.

I’m really worried about the new prime minister [Denys Shmyhal] and finance minister [Ihor Umansky] and the overall trajectory of Ukraine.

She questioned whether the country will stay on a pro-Western reform path and points out the “mixed signals” emanating from the head of state.

Zelenskyy campaigned on a platform that was very good and strong and supported by many people in the West. But now it looks like he's reversing his course.

In her opinion, the big question right now is “how to bring out the better angels in Zelenskyy ”.