Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was in deplorable state, with bleak prospects ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2025.
"A little more than in a year the Helsinki Final Act will turn 50 years. In this regard, I regret to state that the OSCE is approaching this anniversary date in a deplorable state and its prospects remain unclear," Lavrov said at the meeting of OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje.
Lavrov went on to say that the OSCE is on the brink of an abyss, and it is unclear if it is worth "investing" in it to ensure security.
"The OSCE is essentially turned into an appendage of NATO and the European Union. The organization, let's admit it bluntly, is on the brink of an abyss. A simple question arises: does it make sense to invest efforts in revitalizing it, will it ever be able to adapt to the objective realities of world development and again become a platform for considering regional security problems based on the principles of the Helsinki final act ... So far, there are many more questions than answers," he explained.
OSCE Understands Impossible to Discuss Europe’s Fate Without Russia, Moscow Says
The logic that it is impossible to discuss Europe’s fate without Russia has prevailed in the OSCE, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The logic prevailed that without Russia’s participation, everyone who knows the map of Europe understands the significance of our country and this is not only geography, it is also significant in terms of energy, economics, security, and the humanitarian sphere. This means that the logic prevailed that discussing the problems of the European continent from the point of view of security and cooperation as a whole without Russia makes no sense," Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
The top Russian diplomat arrived in Skopje on Wednesday evening. This is Lavrov's first trip to Europe since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine not counting his visits to Belarus and Turkey. The minister's previous visit to Europe took place on January 21, 2022. Then, he traveled to Geneva, where he held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.