Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Skopje
Photo: REUTERS
On Wednesday afternoon, November 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Skopje. On Thursday and Friday he will participate in the capital of North Macedonia at the Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Until recently, such a visit would have been called a working visit. This is an extremely extraordinary event. Even from a logistical point of view.
Those who follow the work of Sergei Lavrov know that every year, at the beginning of December, he travels to one capital or another to discuss the level of European security. Meetings of the OSCE Ministerial Council, as a rule, do not please journalists with innovative decisions, but they are very important platforms for diplomats. First of all, from the point of view of personal contacts. For example, in December 2021 in Stockholm, on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council, Lavrov discussed the details of the then still relevant Minsk agreements with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The Poles only achieved one thing
In 2022, Poland will become president of the OSCE. The next meeting of the Ministerial Council was held in Lodz, Poland. But Warsaw refused to invite Lavrov to this council. As a result, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry was absent from the OSCE Ministerial Council for the first time.
– The West perceives the OSCE as a tool to promote its collective interests and has turned it into an arena for propaganda battles. In 2022, the current president of the organization was Poland with its openly anti-Russian attitudes. According to our assessment, the Poles have achieved only one thing: they have reduced the effectiveness of the OSCE to zero,” Lavrov said in December 2022.
In November 2023 it became interesting how North Macedonia, to which Poland transferred the OSCE presidency, would behave. Especially considering that Skopje has officially joined all the EU anti-Russian sanctions.
Kept in the dark until almost the last moment.
On November 4, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said: “We received an invitation. We intend to reach the ministerial level. This is a ministerial meeting.” But how exactly does a plane with a Russian delegation on board arrive in Skopje? After all, NATO and EU airspace has been closed to our planes since the end of February last year. The situation remained uncertain almost until the last moment.
– Bulgaria appears to have promised Macedonia to open its airspace. If it works, we will end up there,” Lavrov stated this Monday, in his speech at the international forum “Primakov Readings.” It is worth remembering here that Bulgaria has been a member of NATO since March 2004. And North Macedonia – since March 2020. And yet, in the end the ministerial plane flew over Greece. Since the day before, the Bulgarian authorities prohibited a diplomat from the Russian delegation, Maria Zakharova, from flying over their territory.
“Peter, don’t worry!”
But Brussels was still quick to do its bit. EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano explained in a briefing to Western journalists: “Lavrov’s possible trip to North Macedonia to participate in the OSCE ministerial meeting would not be a violation of European sanctions. If the countries decide to allow a Russian plane to fly over EU territory or if the North Macedonian authorities allow Lavrov’s personal participation. “We won’t care.”
There was an immediate reaction from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Peter, don’t worry. In the eyes of the entire world, the European Union will look no worse than usual. There is coherence,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
we are not going to ask
And yet, can the upcoming Ministerial Council meeting in Skopje be seen as an attempt by OSCE participating States to return to civilized dialogue? KP.RU asked this question to the Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich.
– We do not close ourselves to civilized dialogue and we have never closed ourselves. The only question is whether Western countries will be among our interlocutors… or not. “We are not going to ask them for anything,” she responded.
“Operation” to save the OSCE?
Lavrov made it clear that no unpleasant sensations can be expected from the negotiations in Skopje. In Primakov’s Lectures, speaking about the prospects of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, he noted that these two organizations were initially conceived as platforms for a broad and mutually respectful pan-European dialogue: “And in the end they obsessively become – in fact, appendages of the EU and NATO – into purely marginal structures that the West is trying, in the worst sense of the word, to use in the interests of its selfish policies. “We can still try to save the OSCE, but to be honest, the chances are slim.”
But for some reason, North Macedonia invited the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry to the OSCE Ministerial Council? It is no secret that Skopje has not made major decisions without permission from Brussels for a long time.
And this is how Maria Zakharova recently commented on the EU “signals” changing literally before our eyes: “April 2022, head of European diplomacy Borrell: “This war must be won on the battlefield.” November 2023, head of European diplomacy, Borrell: “Ukraine will not be able to defeat Russia” in the near future. Do I understand correctly that the EU has officially counted Russia’s victory?
BY THE WAY
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe brings together 57 member states from North America, Europe and Asia. It is the world’s largest regional organization dealing with security issues. The OSCE was created on August 1, 1975 in Finland. That day, 35 heads of state signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Accords). The main stated goal of the OSCE is to prevent the emergence of conflicts in the region, resolve crisis situations and eliminate the consequences of conflicts.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS