Andriy Melnyk has been removed from office as Ukraine's ambassador to Germany.
"To dismiss Andriy Yaroslavovych Melnyk from the post of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Federal Republic of Germany," the text of a decree published on the website of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday indicated.
Melnyk was one of multiple ambassadors sacked by Zelensky, with Ukraine's envoys to Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Norway and India also dismissed.
Andriy Melnyk made a name for himself as ambassador to Germany after his appointment in 2014, garnering international attention, and scorn, from ordinary Germans and foreigners alike over his 'unconventional' approach to his job. Earlier this year, officials told Suddeutsche Zeitung that the envoy conducted himself in such an undiplomatic manner, and was such a "pain in the a**" to work with that senior government officials went out of their way to avoid meeting him.
Melnyk spent much of his time in the country instructing German officials and lawmakers on proper policy toward Russia, lobbied Berlin for more and more weapons, raised eyebrows by visiting the grave of notorious WWII-era Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, and sparked alarm after warning that Kiev may have to build a nuclear arsenal if it wasn't allowed to join NATO.
The ambassador garnered international media attention in May after calling Chancellor Scholz an "offended liverwurst sausage" over the latter's refusal to visit Kiev. Scholz held off on the trip until last month to show solidarity with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose own planned trip to the Ukrainian capital was canceled after Ukrainian officials claimed he had a "spider's web of contacts with Russia."
The sausage scandal sparked outrage in the Bundestag, with lawmakers from the German coalition government's Free Democratic Party, as well as the opposition Die Linke, Alternative fur Deutschland and the Christian Democratic Union blasting Melnyk over his inappropriate tone, with some demanding that he be immediately deported. Melnyk stood firm on his remarks and refused to apologize, going on to attack the chancellor's office again and again by criticizing the slow pace of German weapons deliveries. Last month, he asked whether Germany's solidarity with Ukraine was "worth something, or not even a cent" amid Berlin's continued purchases of Russian energy.