Despite Russian sabotage attempts and Lavrov criticism: Cassis wants to save OSCE 1 tree, 50,000 lights: New York Rockefeller Christmas tree lights up

Before boarding the plane to Skopje, Ignazio Cassis sent a wake-up call: “The point now is to ensure that the values ​​and principles of the OSCE are preserved and that the organization remains able to act,” said The Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs during the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the North Macedonian capital.

Because one thing is clear: since the Russian attack on Ukraine almost two years ago, the dialogue platform established during the Cold War has been in an existential crisis. As Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg put it, it depends on the “heart-lung machine.”

Annalena Baerbock: Russia wants to destroy the OSCE

The reason for this is Russia, which is not only trampling on the OSCE Final Act with its war of aggression, which violates international law. But he also blocks the organization internally with his veto power. After Russia torpedoed Estonia’s OSCE chairmanship planned for 2024, an agreement was reached early this week on a replacement successor, Malta. However, Russia has so far prevented important personnel and budget decisions.

OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid warned of a looming shortage of funds and said the organization could only be saved from bankruptcy this year thanks to donations from member states. According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Russia aims to ‘destroy’ the OSCE and thus the efforts for a peace order in Europe. This should not be allowed.

What also caused problems in advance was the fact that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took part in the meeting, even though he is on the international sanctions list. Last year Poland refused to let him participate. However, North Macedonia allowed Putin’s chief diplomat to enter the country. The foreign ministers of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Ukraine, sharply criticized the decision and boycotted the meeting. There were fears, among other things, that Lavrov would misuse his actions for propaganda purposes.

Lavrov blames the West for the OSCE crisis

And so it happened: In his speech on Thursday, Lavrov railed against the West, NATO and the ‘neo-Nazi regime’ in Kiev. The OSCE has become an “appendage of NATO and the EU” and is “on the brink of collapse”. The blame lies solely with the ‘Western political elite’, who have decided in favor of NATO’s eastern expansion and against the OSCE.

Several delegates left the room during Lavrov’s speech, while the Russian himself was not present at the speech of the Western representatives. While Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis was photographed with Lavrov at the UN General Assembly last year, there was no handshake photo this year.

Switzerland has always attached great importance to the OSCE in the past. Former Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter was particularly involved during the Swiss OSCE chairmanship in 2014. The mandate was shaped by the consequences of the Maidan uprising and the Russian annexation of Crimea.

During this time, Burkhalter met Russian President Vladimir Putin in person twice. Top Swiss diplomat Thomas Greminger also played a key role in setting up an OSCE mission to monitor compliance with the Minsk Agreement along the Line of Contact in eastern Ukraine. From 2017, Greminger served as Secretary General of the OSCE for three years and tried to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.