On June 13, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree appointing Alona Hetmanchuk as Head of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO. According to the PromPolitInform portal, Channel 24 compiled what is known about her.
Very soon, at the end of June, a NATO summit will take place in the Netherlands. The draft declaration of the summit does not mention the prospect of Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance. However, assistance to Ukraine will continue.
Who is Alona Hetmanchuk, who has headed Ukraine’s mission to NATO
Alona Hetmanchuk is the founder and director of the New Europe Center (NEC), and a nonresident senior analyst at the Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council (USA).
The New Europe Center website states that she is an experienced expert in foreign policy and a leader of media and public initiatives. In 2009, she co-founded the Institute of World Policy, which she led for 8 years. Since 2016, Alona has been a member of the Consultative Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland. In 2017, she received a state award from then-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko for her contribution to Ukraine’s European integration process.
Hetmanchuk is actively published in the media. She worked for nearly 15 years as an international commentator and editor.
“Presidential decree. At a critically important time for the future of Ukraine, for the future of NATO itself, and, of course, for the future of Ukraine in NATO. I understand the responsibility. Thank you for the trust,” she wrote on Facebook.
Hetmanchuk added that she would share her thoughts later, but for now is fully immersed in preparations for the NATO summit in The Hague.
Reports that Alona Hetmanchuk would receive a new position had already appeared last December. At that time, there were more than 30 personnel changes. In particular, former Kremlin prisoner, Crimean Tatar politician, lecturer, political scientist, and journalist Nariman Dzhelyal was appointed ambassador to Turkey; Alona Hetmanchuk as Ukraine’s representative to NATO; and Andrii Melnyk as Ukraine’s representative to the UN.
Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the large-scale renewal of the diplomatic corps.
“In general, it is normal practice to fill ambassadorial positions with political appointments if people are capable of handling the job. Therefore, we believe this selection of individuals is effective and will evaluate it based on results,” said Heorhii Tykhyi during a briefing.
The ministry’s spokesperson emphasized that Ukraine does not have the highest percentage of political appointments.
