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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The Servant of the People faction will support the candidacy of Yevhen Khmara for the post of defense minister and Andrii Sybiga for the post of foreign minister. This was reported on 19 August by the faction leader, Member of Parliament Davyd Arakhamia, after MPs met with both candidates. He emphasized that the final decision on the nominees belongs to the president, and the faction supports both Volodymyr Zelensky and the people he proposed.
Arakhamia wrote about the results of the meeting on his Telegram channel. According to him, submitting candidates for the posts of defense minister and foreign minister is the exclusive competence of the President of Ukraine, and the faction supports Volodymyr Zelensky and the candidates he proposed.
"Andrii Sybiga is an experienced diplomat, a powerful team member whom we all know well. He does not need additional recommendations; it is important to continue the work he has been doing for a long time," Arakhamia said.
Arakhamia was no less favorable toward the candidate for defense minister. He called Khmara a combat officer who repeatedly risked his life for Ukraine and has proven himself well in military service and while performing the duties of defense minister.
"Yevhen Khmara outlined the work priorities: to continue seizing the strategic initiative, to take the war onto enemy territory, to preserve human capital, and to develop technologies and the defense-industrial complex," Arakhamia said.
The faction leader added that Khmara advocates preserving positive developments and the people who have proven themselves well in the Ministry of Defense. According to Arakhamia, the faction shares these views and will support Khmara’s candidacy in the chamber during the vote.
The submission will be considered before the vote in the Rada
The vote on the candidates for defense and foreign ministers was supposed to take place on Wednesday, 19 August, after the relevant committees review the president’s submission. Acting defense minister Khmara led the ministry for more than a month after the high-profile resignation of Mykhailo Fedorov, and the formal submission of his candidacy was delayed for a long time by a legal snag – by law the defense minister must be a civilian, while Khmara is an active servicemember of the SBU.
President Zelensky proposed Khmara’s candidacy back on 16 July, amid the scandal over Fedorov’s dismissal, when mass protests began in Ukrainian cities demanding his return to the post. On Sunday, 16 August, a march took place in central Kyiv calling for Fedorov’s return as defense minister and for dialogue between the authorities and society.
Earlier, Informator reported that Zelensky submitted to the Rada the nomination of Khmara and Sybiga for ministerial appointments on 18 August, after which the candidates immediately met with parliamentary factions. We also wrote that MPs spoke with Khmara and Sybiga for more than five hours, and the meeting with the candidates continued on the morning of 19 August, directly before the vote in the parliamentary chamber.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Слуга народу підтримає призначення Хмари головою Міноборони – Арахамія". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Informator.
