GOT A VISIT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led a meeting with foreign ministers from Muslim and Arab countries in Moscow last week. On Thursday, he meets NATO countries in Skopje. But some refrain. Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina / AP / NTB
BRUSSELS (VG) On Wednesday afternoon, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) is on his way to a European security meeting in Skopje. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also be there. Therefore, the meeting is being boycotted by several NATO countries.
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It is the OSCE, the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, which holds its annual meeting of foreign ministers in North Macedonia’s capital on Thursday and Friday.
– Why should I travel to the OSCE and Skopje to discuss European security with a man who should not be allowed to travel to democratic countries – unless the destination is The Hague?
That was the reaction from Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on X (Twitter) when it became known that Russia is sending its foreign minister to the meeting. The Hague is the address of the International Court of Justice (ICC).
Info
This is OSCE
The OSCE is a regional organization consisting of a total of 57 member states. The OSCE works with security policy, conflict prevention, human rights, and economic, technical and ecological cooperation.
All European countries are members. The USA, Canada and the eight countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus that were formerly republics under the Soviet Union are also included.
The organization was established on 1 January 1995 as a continuation and further development of KSSE. The OSCE works according to the unanimity principle. The decisions of the organization are not legally binding.
Source: Great Norwegian Lexicon
Sea view
Meetings requested
Ukraine will also boycott the meeting, along with Latvia and Lithuania. It is unclear whether other NATO countries make the same assessment as the three Baltic countries.
The Russian foreign minister has said that he wants to travel to Skopje because several countries have requested meetings with him, but has not specified which countries in question.
Both Russia and Ukraine have continued their membership in the organisation, which is one of the very few arenas where the leaders of Western countries can meet the Russians on European soil.
– How can you talk to an aggressor who commits genocide and full aggression against another member state? Lavrov should be prosecuted for war crimes, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said during the NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. according to Reuters.
Norway participates
Estonia was supposed to take over the chairmanship of the OSCE after this meeting, but Russia has blocked that.
According to the Norwegian foreign minister, it is now agreed that Malta will take over the chairmanship.
– We have not asked for a conversation with Lavrov. They are still a member of the OSCE, and we will be at the same meeting, Espen Barth Eide told VG earlier this week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also traveling to Skopje to meet North Macedonian leaders and other “friendly” countries. But the Americans have warnings that Blinken will travel on to the Middle East before the formal meeting of foreign ministers starts.
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Published: 29.11.23 at 16:55
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2023-11-29 15:55:53
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