OSCE Head: Discussions on Russia’s exclusion exhausted so far
Pravda Ukraine
Bujar Osmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, whose country will preside over the OSCE in 2023, considers discussions about the possible suspension of Russia’s membership due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to be exhausted for now.
Source: Osmani in an interview with EFE, as reported by European Pravda.
Osmani said that discussions on excluding Russia from the OSCE “are expired, at least as of now”.
He noted that this is hindered by two arguments: a legal one, which requires the consent of 56 of the 57 OSCE members for one of the organisation’s members, and a political one since some members consider the organisation a forum for dialogue between countries with different views.
Although the OSCE makes decisions by consensus, there is a so-called “consensus minus one” formula that is used in case of serious violations of OSCE principles. In practice, it was applied only once – about Yugoslavia in 1991.
“But we believe that this principle will not work now, as there are differences of opinion in the OSCE,” said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia.
He noted that some OSCE members see it as a “platform for dialogue between like-minded countries” to ensure stability in Europe through joint activities.
Background:
- Ukraine has repeatedly emphasised the need to exclude Russia from the OSCE, calling the Russian Federation the main threat to Europe. Nevertheless, Russian Sergey Lavrov, who received permission to visit North Macedonia, took part in the last meeting of the organisation at the ministerial level.
- In Skopje, Lavrov, in his typical manner, was rude to journalists and declared that the Russian Federation could block personnel decisions on which the further functioning of the OSCE depends.
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