Lavrov flew to the OSCE meeting and declared that it is “on the edge of the abyss”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov takes part in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE in Skopje (North Macedonia). In his speech at the plenary session, he accused Western countries of “defeating the OSCE’s chances of revival” and expressed the opinion that the organization “is on the edge of an abyss.”

Lavrov is taking part in such a meeting for the first time since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine in February last year. North Macedonia and Greece agreed to open their airspace for the plane of the Russian delegation. Earlier, the authorities of these countries, as part of sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine, prohibited Russian aircraft from entering their airspace.

Bulgaria refused to open the airspace due to the presence on board of the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. “This is what was written in the official note of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: a plane can fly over Bulgaria, but Maria Zakharova cannot fly on a plane,” she wrote in a telegram. She called what happened “the malicious stupidity of Russophobes.”

Zakharova is included in the EU sanctions list, as is Lavrov. However, regarding the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the European Commission clarified that the agreed visit to Skopje will not be a violation of sanctions.

The heads of the foreign policy departments of the Baltic countries and Ukraine, as a sign of protest against Lavrov’s visit, had earlier refused to participate in the meeting.

In his speech, Lavrov said that Western countries are “turning the OSCE into an appendage of NATO and the European Union” and stated that he has doubts about the need for “revival” of the organization.

Lavrov met with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Shallenberg before the plenary session. The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that the meeting was held at the request of the OSCE – the headquarters of this organization is located in Vienna. Appointments to leadership positions in the OSCE were discussed. Lavrov also met with the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry – relations between Moscow and Yerevan have deteriorated significantly recently – and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary.

The OSCE was created within the framework of the so-called Helsinki process, which provided for security agreements between all countries of Europe and the North Atlantic region, including the USA and the USSR. The Helsinki Final Act, signed in 1975, included the principle of the inviolability of borders in Europe and non-interference in each other’s affairs, and the parties also undertook to respect human rights.