Why the problems with Ukraine's honourary consuls go beyond nude photos

Over the past few days, social media has been buzzing with posts about Ukraine’s newly appointed honourary consul in the Dominican Republic, Viktoriia Yakimova.

The scandal triggered the large number of nude and topless photos on Yakimova’s social media pages. She had previously worked as a photo model. Many Ukrainians found it questionable whether such a creative portfolio is compatible with the role of an honourary consul.

Read more about the appointment and why Ukraine should rethink the entire system of selecting honourary consuls in the article by Sergiy Sydorenko and Uliana Krychkovska of European Pravda: Nudes and diplomacy: why Ukraine needs honourary consuls and why explicit photos are not the main problem.

Honourary consuls, unlike Ukraine’s career consuls, are not civil servants and do not receive any money from the Ukrainian budget. In practice, they are often foreigners who enjoy authority in their city.

Ideally, honourary consuls invest their time and money simply out of love for Ukraine and a desire to help; in reality, however, motivations vary.

According to former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, honourary consuls can systematically assist the Foreign Ministry in public diplomacy, business contacts and interaction with regional authorities. The idea is that an honourary consul should have a strong social status in their city or country and become a link between Kyiv and local elites.

What an honourary consul definitely cannot do is act on behalf of Ukraine or officially represent the Ukrainian state, at least in theory.

In fact, however, it is impossible to separate the person’s actions from the position granted by the state. His or her image will reflect on Ukraine’s image, so vetting and screening candidates matters. And the selection process is far from perfect.

There is the example of Cyprus, where a conflict is ongoing between the ambassador, the Foreign Ministry, and a newly appointed honourary consul (whose procedure has not yet been completed). One reason for the dispute is whether a person with a criminal record in the past, and possibly a conflict of interest, can serve as an honourary consul, even if they now demonstrate pro-Ukrainian views.

"It is important to filter candidates for consuls," explains Pavlo Klimkin. "There are situations when people simply want this status for PR, for the prestige itself, or for the privileges, limited as they are."

Klimkin emphasises that during appointments one must understand the added value for Ukraine.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine (retired) Andrii Veselovskyi outlined requirements relevant to all honourary consuls.

"First, it should be a wealthy, self-sufficient person whose business is clean and stable. Second, someone who has never had problems with authorities or law enforcement, or disputes over property, court cases and so on. The candidate should also have social standing in the community where they will work," he says.

During the full-scale war, additional, extremely important requirements have emerged.

The main one is the candidate’s history of attitudes towards Ukraine and Russia.

"If our new honourary consul indeed posed wearing a kokoshnik, the details need to be clarified," Pavlo Klimkin notes.

At present, there is an impression that the small Ukrainian diaspora in the Dominican Republic views the work of the newly appointed consul Viktoriia Yakimova positively. Politicians who interacted with the country and received her help even before her appointment have also expressed good feedback. However, the Ukrainian embassy in Cuba, which submitted her candidacy, should be ready to provide answers to the Foreign Ministry if necessary.

Second, is there added value from this appointment? In distant countries like the Dominican Republic, a Ukrainian voice with "official" status is indeed important, but only if it is actually heard and not limited to a nice signboard, diplomatic license plates and a Facebook badge.

These questions were overshadowed by the discussion of the consul’s appearance, even though the answers are far more important than public attitudes towards nude-style photos.