Denys Monastyrsky became Ukraine’s new interior minister on July 16.
The parliament approved Monastyrsky’s candidacy with 271 votes, most of them from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People faction.
Monastyrsky is a lawmaker with the Servant of the People and the head of the parliament’s law enforcement committee. He is a former lawyer who used to represent Zelensky’s TV production company.
Monastyrsky succeeds Arsen Avakov, who served as interior minister for 7.5 years, an unprecedentedly long term.
Avakov resigned on July 13, and the parliament approved his resignation on July 15.
Monastyrsky was handpicked by Zelensky, who offered him the job on the same day as Avakov resigned, according to Monastyrsky.
During his speech in the Rada, Monastyrsky demonstrated his loyalty to Zelensky.
“I’m from the president’s team and I’ve been with him from the very beginning,” he said. “I’d like to thank President Volodymyr Zelensky for his trust.”
Monastyrsky did not say anything about any plans to reform the police by firing tainted officers.
“I have only one question: will there be a reform?” said Oleksandra Ustinova, a lawmaker from the Holos party. “Cleanse the police.”
As Ustinova was addressing Monastyrsky about reform from the podium, he did not listen to her and was speaking to another lawmaker.
Monastyrsky claimed, however, that he would crack down on crime and corruption.
“I will do my best to fight those who use their authority to enrich themselves and those who violate human rights,” he said. “…I guarantee that the patrol police will keep punishing judges, prosecutors and members of parliament for misdemeanors.”
Monastyrsky said his priorities include fighting organized crime and drug trafficking, road traffic safety, strengthening the border and countering Russian aggression.
When asked about the case into the 2016 murder of Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet, Monastyrsky gave a non-committal answer.
“Now the case is on trial,” he said. “Let’s wait for the result and after that we’ll make necessary conclusions about the work and quality of law enforcement.”
Monastyrsky’s predecessor Avakov was lambasted for failing to produce suspects in the Sheremet case for years. After three suspects were charged in 2019, no hard evidence has been presented against them. All three have since been released from detention facilities.
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