Devendra Kumar
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is set to face a major diplomatic boycott as foreign ministers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have announced that they will not attend the upcoming meeting in North Macedonia, citing the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The three Baltic states issued a joint statement expressing their deep regret over the decision, stating that it will only provide Russia with yet another propaganda opportunity. Ukraine has also joined the boycott, accusing Russia of coercing and undermining the OSCE through the abuse of the rule of consensus.
Lavrov has been invited to the two-day meeting in Skopje, which will mark a rare visit to a NATO member country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Russian delegation plans to insist on the return of the OSCE to its original principles and purpose, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. Grushko dismissed the Baltic nations’ decision to boycott the meeting, stating that it does not mean anything for the future of the OSCE.
The OSCE was established during the Cold War to help defuse tension between East and West, and North Macedonia holds the organisation’s rotating presidency. The foreign ministers of the Baltic states have accused Russia of obstructive behaviour within the OSCE, citing Russia’s prevention of an OSCE presence in Ukraine and its blocking of Estonia’s chairmanship of the organisation in 2024. They also expressed concern that Lavrov’s attendance at the meeting will risk legitimising aggressor Russia as a rightful member of their community of free nations.
North Macedonia’s foreign minister, Bujar Osmani, stated that he will meet Lavrov at the meeting, but as the OSCE chairman in office, not as a representative of North Macedonia. Osmani condemned Russia’s violations of OSCE principles and stated that the OSCE has turned into a platform for political and legal accountability of Russia for its deeds in Ukraine.