The three countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union didn’t like the fact that Russia’s top diplomat was called to a coming summit.
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have said they will not be at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting this week because they do not want Russia to be there.
Two of the three countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union said on Tuesday that they would not be going to the next OSCE meeting because they “deeply regret” asking Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.
In a joint statement, they said, “Lavrov’s attendance at the OSCE Ministerial also runs the risk of making Russia look like a legitimate member of our community of free nations.”
ignoring the terrible crimes Russia has committed and allowing Russia to clearly break and disrespect the OSCE’s core principles and promises. Russian troops are in Ukraine, and they said, “As Ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, we will not be a part of this and will not share responsibility for what will happen as a result.”
The event takes place in Skopje, North Macedonia, this Thursday and Friday. Berlin and Kiev both said they would not be there. Russia was to blame, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, for turning the OSCE “into a hostage of its whims and aggression” and causing an “existential crisis within the OSCE.”
The ministry also stated, “We should focus our joint efforts on how to save the OSCE from Russia and not send messages about the possibility of going back to the ways of working together that existed before February 2022.”
This week, Lavrov said that he would go to the OSCE meeting as soon as EU officials were sure that his trip to Skopje would not break any Western sanctions. But it was up to Bulgaria to decide whether or not to let the Russian group use their airspace. He said, “If it works out, we will be there.”
To the east of North Macedonia is the country of Bulgaria. Lavrov could fly there from Russia. Because of EU rules put in place last year, Russian-speaking planes can’t fly over Bulgaria or most of Europe.
After that, Russia’s foreign minister said that the OSCE and other major European groups had become “appendages of the EU and NATO.” There was hope, though, that the OSCE could be “saved” as a place for states to talk to each other.
Moscow has been a member of the OSCE since the days when the USSR was still together. To help the USSR and the West get along better, the group was formed in 1975.
The OSCE has been keeping an eye on things in Ukraine since 2014. That being said, it was pulled out right before Russia’s attack last year. Moscow had said many times that the mission was ignoring Kiev’s violations.
The OSCE is made up of 57 countries, including the EU, the US, and Canada.
