Borys Ivanovych Tarasyuk ( uk, Борис Іванович Тарасюк; born 1 January 1949) is a Ukrainian politician who twice served as the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
of Ukraine and a former MP who is since December 2019 Ukraine's permanent representative to the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
.
Tarasyuk studied international relations and international law at
National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, and graduated in 1975. Besides
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, he is fluent in English, French and Russian. As of 2012, Tarasyuk is a sitting member of the International Honorary Council of the European Academy of Diplomacy. He is a Senior Network Member at the
European Leadership Network
European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. The ELN's Director is Sir Adam Thomson, former UK Permanent Representative to NATO.
Histo ...
(ELN).
Career as foreign minister
Tarasyuk served as deputy of foreign minister from 9 March 1992 until 16 September 1995.
In 1995 – 1998 he was ambassador in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Ukraine representative in
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
.
He became foreign minister for the first time from 17 April 1998 until 29 September 2000. He later broke with President
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corru ...
, and became a foreign relations adviser to
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010.
As an informal leader of th ...
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
, Tarasyuk became foreign minister again on 4 February 2005, and served in the Cabinets of Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuriy Yekhanurov, and
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...
. Tarasyuk favors Ukrainian integration with the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
.
Tarasyuk was formally dismissed by the
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
on 1 December 2006. He disputed this dismissal in Kyiv Shevchenkivskyi District court, and on 5 December parliament's decision was reversed on the grounds that it violated Ukrainian law. On the same day, Yushchenko issued a decree that Tarasyuk must keep his job.
Despite this court order and presidential decree, he was not allowed to enter
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
meetings and this caused political conflict based on interpretations of amendments to
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
Tarasyuk was placed at number 7 on the electoral list of
Batkivshchina
The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Peo ...
Ukrayinska Pravda
''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...
(11 November 2012) A part of People’s Movement of Ukraine, including Tarasyuk, merged (the rest of this party had merged with
Ukrainian People's Party
The Ukrainian People's Party ( uk, Українська Народна Партія; ) is a political party in Ukraine, registered on Old Year's Day 1999 as the Ukrainian National Movement ( uk, Український Народний Рух; ).
in May 2013) into Batkivshchina on 15 June 2013.
In the
Ukrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...
Interfax-Ukraine
The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company publishes i ...
Interfax-Ukraine
The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company publishes i ...
(8 November 2014)
Tarasyuk did not participate in the
2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 ...
.
On 24 December 2019 President
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
appointed Tarasyuk as Ukraine's permanent representative to the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
.Zelensky appoints Tarasyuk Ukraine's envoy to Council of Europe
Ukrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
- and
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
memberships in Ukraine. The group is funded by Western donations and is open about its goals. The IEAC' logo juxtaposes the
flag of Ukraine
The flag of Ukraine ( uk, Прапор України, Prapor Ukrainy) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow.
The blue and yellow bicolour first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg, then part of the ...
with the logos of NATO and the European Union. Polls cited by Tarasyuk showed that only between 18% and 22% of Ukraine's population supported NATO-membership in 2007. The percentage has increased to 47% by 2014.Goncharenko, Roman. What Ukraine wants from NATO . ''DW''. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
The Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation has influenced Ukraine state policy in the past. For example, a report produced by the Institute titled Trilateral Plan for Solving the Transnistrian Issue ' recommended changes to the customs regime relating to Transnistria. Less than five weeks after the report's publication, the recommendations were implement and signed into law. Ukraine-Transnistria border customs conflict followed on 3 March 2006. The
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(''OSCE''), the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, and the United States backed the legislation, while Russia opposed it.
Academic degrees and awards
* 2005 State Order "For Merits", I Grade
* 2002 Doctor Honoris Causa of the
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...
* 1999 State Order "For Merits", II Grade
* 1996 State Order "For Merits", III Grade
* 1992 Diplomatic Rank of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Borys Tarasyuk has been decorated with highest state awards of Argentina, Brazil, France, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden and Venezuela.