Ukraine threatens leaving INTERPOL if Russian elected president

Ukraine will consider ending its membership in the
INTERPOL international police organization if its new president becomes a
Russian citizen, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Nov. 19 statement.
Among the candidates being considered at its general assembly currently meeting
in Dubai is Aleksandr Prokopchuk, a veteran of Russia’s interior ministry and
foreign reconnaissance, according to Iryna Gerashchenko, Ukraine’s first deputy
head of parliament. “Russia’s possible presidency in INTERPOL is absurd and
contradicts the spirit and goals of the organization,” said Avakov, who
described Prokopchuk’s presidency as a “hybrid threat to the whole world” and
compared it to the Nazis controlling Interpol during World War Two.

Aleksandr Prokopchuk, a Russian law enforcement
veteran reported to be a candidate for the Interpol presidency, is the brother
of Ihor Prokopchuk, a Ukrainian diplomat who has led the nation’s permanent
mission to international organizations in Vienna for 8.5 years, including the
OSCE, reported on Nov. 19, the dt.ua news site. The Prokopchuk brothers are
native of Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region and earned degrees from Shevchenko National
University in Kyiv, the report said. It cited an anonymous source who insisted
Ihor Prokopchuk has earned a strong reputation as a diplomat, having served for
two years as Ukrainian Ambassador to Lithuania prior to his tenure in Vienna.
“His single ‘dark stain on his biography’ could be his relatives abroad,” the
source said.

Ihor Prokopchuk hasn’t been compromised by his
relations with his brother, Russian law enforcement and reconnaissance veteran
Aleksandr Prokopchuk, throughout Russia’s campaign of military aggression
against Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a Nov. 19 statement.
“His daily selfless work in the OSCE speaks for itself and has earned high
praise from our friends and partners,” the press service said. It added, “This
war has thrown friends, close ones and relatives on both sides of the frontlines.
But everyone makes their own choice and is responsible for it.”

Zenon Zawada: There’s a small irony in Ukraine threatening to leave INTERPOL over
Aleksandr Prokopchuk, but at the same time allowing his own brother Ihor to
hold a key diplomat position. Obviously, two brothers can hold entirely
different political views. But at the same time, it should be a question of
Ukrainian national security of allowing someone like Ihor Prokopchuk, who can
be easily influenced by his brother – at least in theory – to hold such a
sensitive post. These relations weaken Ukraine’s argument a small bit, which is
otherwise strong.