The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have decided not to attend the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Skopje, the capital of Northern Macedonia, on Thursday, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been invited to attend, APA reports citing LRT.lt.
“We deeply regret the decision enabling the personal participation of Russian Foreign Minister S. Lavrov at the 30th Session of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje. It will only provide Russia with yet another propaganda opportunity,” reads the statement by the three Baltic ministers obtained by LRT.lt.
“S. Lavrov’s attendance at the OSCE Ministerial Council also risks legitimizing aggressor Russia as a rightful member of our community of free nations, trivializing the atrocious crimes Russia has been committing, and putting up with Russia’s blatant violation and contempt of the OSCE fundamental principles and commitments,” they added. “We, the Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, will not be part of this and will not share responsibility for consequences it will create.”
The ministers stressed that in the last two years since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, “we have also seen nothing but Russia’s obstructive behavior within the OSCE itself – first, by blocking any OSCE presence and activities in Ukraine, then by blocking Estonia’s 2024 chairmanship on completely fabricated reasons and now by blocking constructive solutions for keeping the organization alive and functional”.
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