Ukrainian interior minister resigns after “drunken brawl”
Taking a page from former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa‘s playbook, Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko ended his political career in humiliating fashion this week after after a public drunkenness incident. Allegedly, Lutsenko and his teenage son had a few too many at the Frankfurt airport and then got into a fight with some cops. ...
Taking a page from former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa's playbook, Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko ended his political career in humiliating fashion this week after after a public drunkenness incident. Allegedly, Lutsenko and his teenage son had a few too many at the Frankfurt airport and then got into a fight with some cops. Lutsenko says he only had a beer and just got angry when the police handcuffed his son. He is threatening to sue the German tabloid Bild for libel.
Taking a page from former Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa‘s playbook, Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko ended his political career in humiliating fashion this week after after a public drunkenness incident. Allegedly, Lutsenko and his teenage son had a few too many at the Frankfurt airport and then got into a fight with some cops. Lutsenko says he only had a beer and just got angry when the police handcuffed his son. He is threatening to sue the German tabloid Bild for libel.
In any event, Lutsenko offered his resignation yesterday, leaving Yulia Tymoshenko’s already embattled government without an interior minister, a foreign minister, or a finance minister. Not a particularly welcome development given the scale of the economic and political challenges they’re facing.
This incident combined with Nakagawa’s downfall could be a warning to government ministers to take it easy on the booze while traveling on official business, but somehow I doubt it.
SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy
Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.
Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.
The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.
The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day, written by Alexandra Sharp. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.