A meeting of Europe’s largest security organization opened Thursday with foreign ministers and other representatives strongly denouncing Russia’s war against Ukraine, a conflict that is among the greatest challenges the body has faced in its nearly half-century of existence, clickondetroit transmits.
Along with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which was founded to maintain peace and stability on the continent, has provided a rare international forum for Russia and Western powers to discuss security matters.
But since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the 57-nation OSCE has become another venue where the bitter clash between Russia and the West has played out, exposing the organization’s own inadequacies in helping to resolve the conflict.
The two-day ministerial meeting in Lodz, Poland, is its first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Notably absent was Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was banned from entering Poland. The country is the current chair of the OSCE and a member of the 27-member European Union, which put Lavrov on a sanctions list.
Lavrov denounced the ban and Poland on Thursday.
“I can say responsibly that Poland’s anti-chairmanship of the OSCE will take the most miserable place ever in this organization’s history,” he said. “Nobody has ever caused such damage to the OSCE while being at its helm.”
Russia’s permanent representative to the organization, Alexander Lukashevich, led the Russian Russia’s delegation to Lodz instead of Lavrov. Lukashevich denounced the Western countries after a string of statements condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine.
“What we’ve heard in this hall today only reinforces one sad thought: the West is deliberately devaluing the tools of diplomacy, firmly taking the path of confrontation,” he said.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said he had a responsibility to defend the OSCE’s “fundamental principles,” and argued that it was not Poland but Russia which has hurt the organization by blocking budgets, appointments and other critical aspects of its functioning. All decisions must be adopted by consensus.
