European Commission comments on government reshuffle in Ukraine

The European Commission hopes that following the changes in the Ukrainian government, specifically the dismissal of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine and the EU will maintain the same strong and close cooperation as they had previously.

"We have taken note of the recent reshuffle of the Ukrainian government and several key public positions," Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the European Commission, said.

Stano noted that it is essential for the EU to always have good and reliable partners "on the other side", particularly in terms of maintaining good and stable governance.

He expressed hope that the EU will be able to continue its good cooperation with the new Ukrainian colleagues as effectively as before.

Commenting on the dismissal of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Stano said he could only recall the words of EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who "thanked Kuleba for everything he had done for Ukraine and for everything they had done together".

"There was very frequent communication and coordination between High Representative Borrell and Foreign Minister Kuleba, and we can only praise Foreign Minister Kuleba for everything that he did in the testing and very difficult times for Ukraine," the European Commission spokesman added.

The Ukrainian parliament supported the dismissal of Dmytro Kuleba as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 5 September. He is expected to be replaced by diplomat Andrii Sybiha.

Olha Stefanishyna, who was dismissed on Wednesday as Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, will return to her post and will also head the Ministry of Justice.