Polish official hints that Poland welcomes appointment of Ukraine's new foreign minister

An anonymous Polish official has told a Polish news agency that Poland has a favourable view of the new Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who was appointed to this post on 5 September, replacing Dmytro Kuleba.

Source: European Pravda

Details: In a piece on Ukraine’s new Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Poland’s national news agency PAP cited an anonymous Polish diplomat as saying that Sybiha was "someone who keeps his word".

The source also said that Sybiha was among Ukrainian politicians who facilitated "very good Polish-Ukrainian cooperation" immediately in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

PAP also reported that Sybiha worked in Poland in 1998-2002 and is a fluent Polish speaker.

Pawel Kowal, Poland’s former ambassador to Ukraine and the current head of the Polish Council for Cooperation with Ukraine, also spoke favourably about Sybiha’s appointment.

"Thank you for your personal commitment to the development of Polish-Ukrainian relations. We will probably do much more together. Ukrainians can count on Polish support and solidarity in the difficult times of Russian aggression," Kowal tweeted. 

Meanwhile, Polish Twitter (X) users recalled in the comments under Kowal’s post that during the Ukrainian-Polish grain crisis in the summer of 2023, Sybiha, then Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, rejected claims that Ukraine was not sufficiently grateful for Poland’s aid.

Background:

• On 5 September, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) appointed Andrii Sybiha as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
• Sybiha had served as the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine since late May 2021, overseeing the president’s foreign policy. He was appointed as the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2024, replacing Mykola Tochytskyi.

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