Baltic Foreign Ministers boycott OSCE meeting over Russian Lavrov's attendance
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov (Getty Images)
Ministers of Foreign Affairs from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will not participate in the OSCE meeting, as the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, is expected to attend, according to The Guardian.
In a joint statement, the Baltic countries’ foreign ministers said Lavrov’s planned attendance “risks legitimizing aggressor Russia as a rightful member of our community of free nations.”
Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, criticized the decision to allow Lavrov to the meeting speaking at the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting today.
"Lavrov’s attendance trivializes the atrocious crimes that Russia continues to commit. Lavrov’s place is at a special tribunal, not the OSCE table," she said
Last year, the OSCE host Poland refused to let Lavrov attend, sparking an angry response from Russia.
Background
Bulgaria will open its airspace for the plane of the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, allowing him to attend the OSCE meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacts to the decision to welcome Lavrov to the OSCE meeting, noting that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, will not participate.
