On December 1, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion dedicated to the results of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The 30th OSCE Ministerial Council is taking place from November 30 to December 1 in the capital of North Macedonia, which currently chairs the OSCE. Last year, during the Polish presidency, Sergey Lavrov was unable to take part in the meeting of foreign ministers, since most European countries, including Poland, had banned flights from Russia.
Today the Russian leadership is concerned about the state of affairs in the OSCE. The organisation, according to Alexander Lukashevich, the Russian permanent representative to the OSCE, is struggling for survival. Apart from to personnel and financial issues, the selection of the chairman for 2024 remains the most important problem. Russia is not ready to consider NATO countries for this role. They, in turn, accuse Russia of blocking the work of the Organisation.
Nevertheless, everyone is aware of the importance of holding a full-fledged CMFA meeting. This year, North Macedonia invited Russia to a meeting in its capital, although a number of countries announced a boycott. Will the participation of the Russian Foreign Minister in the OSCE Ministerial Council be a step towards rethinking European policy towards Russia? What is the Russian role in the organisation today? How did the process of selecting candidates for the chairmanship transpire? Is a consensus possible? What can we expect from the OSCE next year? Participants in the discussion tried to answer these and other questions.
Speakers:
Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director and Research Fellow at the Scientific and Educational Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Faculty of World Economy and International Politics, National Research University Higher School of Economics
Rein Müllerson, honorary professor at Tallinn University (Estonia)
Moderator:
Working languages: Russian, English.