The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is meeting in North Macedonia on Thursday, with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states noticeably absent, protesting the presence of Russia’s diplomatic chief.

This forum for dialogue between East and West has been facing its worst crisis since its creation forty-eight years ago, crippled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to address the assembly at 10 am. His Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues believe in his presence “There is a risk of delegitimizing an aggressive Russia as a full member of our community of independent nations.”. castigated in the presence of kyiv “A state that launched the largest armed occupation in Europe since the end of World War II”.

A justified presence “unacceptable” Warsaw refused to allow the Russian foreign minister to attend an OSCE meeting in 2022, prompting protests from Moscow. Sergey Lavrov arrived in North Macedonia “Despite the wiles of the enemy”Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded on Telegram.

Under Western sanctions for the conflict in Ukraine – Mr. Bulgaria, which first authorized Lavrov to fly in its airspace, then followed his Mr.^me Zakharova is admitted to the EU and is redundant. According to Russian news agencies, Mr. Lavrov’s plane eventually reached northern Macedonia via Greek airspace.

The conclusion that” To allow [Sergueï] Lavrov’s participation is consistent with our common goal of keeping multilateralism alive.”, EU diplomatic chief Joseph Borrell said on Wednesday evening. Mr. Lavrov “We need to hear from everyone again why Russia is destroyed and isolated. This will be a good opportunity for the participants of this meeting to ask him why Russia is destroyed and isolated. He can tell the Kremlin master that the European Union and the OSCE are united in condemning Russia’s aggressive and illegal behavior.he added.

The United States, represented at the OSCE by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, also supports this European forum, which is established in the Habsburg Imperial Palace.