Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, took advantage yesterday of the presence of his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, at the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to denounce “Russia’s illegal, unjust aggression against Ukraine” and the “blockade” of this organization by Moscow.
“In the presence of Lavrov, I have once again denounced Russia’s illegal and unjust aggression against Ukraine,” Albares declared to the Efe agency after speaking (representing Spain and the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU) at the first session of the thirteenth meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, held in Skopje (North Macedonia). “I have demanded the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukrainian territory,” he added.
“It has become clear that, as the months go by, there is no fatigue in supporting, also diplomatic, to Ukraine as long as necessary,” he continued. “We have denounced, and we will not stop doing so as long as this aggression continues,” which represents a “flagrant violation” of the founding act of the OSCE, an organization of which Russia is a founding member and, “today, the main violator of its principles,” he added.
In this regard, Albares denounced the “interested blockade” of the OSCE “by countries like Russia, based on an erroneous conception of national interest,” in reference to the blocking position that Moscow maintains in this organization whose decisions are made by consensus. of the 57 Member States. “You cannot twist the norm of consensus,” since this norm “is set so that we all feel comfortable with a decision, but not to hijack the decisions and paralyze them,” he warned.
An example of this blockade is the veto, by Russia, to Estonia (former Soviet republic and current member of the EU and NATO) assuming the rotating presidency of the OSCE in 2024, which will finally fall to Malta, in the absence for it to be ratified today. In this sense, Albares expressed his support for Malta and his desire for an agreement to be reached for the renewal of the organization’s senior positions, including that of the general secretary, Helga Schmid. Russia opposes the approval of these renewals en bloc.
Lavrov’s presence in Skopje has resulted in the boycott of Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland (the latter four belonging to the EU and NATO) to the OSCE meeting. In this regard, Albares warned that Spain “is not considering, under any circumstances, a meeting with Mr. Lavrov”, who, on the other hand, has announced bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Armenia and an EU Member State such as Hungary.
During his speech, Sergei Lavrov denounced that “the OSCE is becoming an appendix of NATO and the EU” and accused Western countries of using this organization, “without any qualms,” to “promote their interests.” The OSCE, founded in 1975 in the middle of the Cold War to promote dialogue between East and West, brings together 57 countries from North America, Europe and Central Asia. Except for Belarus and Russia itself, no member state supports the invasion of Ukraine.
