Several members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) accuse Russia of paralyzing the institution’s work. This is reported by “Spiegel”, ZDF and “Standard”. According to the German Foreign Ministry, Russia is abusing the OSCE consensus principle. According to the report, the US also views Russian diplomats within the OSCE as a clear security risk.
Ukrainian OSCE Ambassador Yevheniy Tsymbalyuk speaks of an “existential crisis provoked by Russia”. The entire organization was at risk of collapsing, he said, according to the “Standard”. Ukraine calls for the suspension of Russia’s membership.
Decision on country presidency pending
The OSCE, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Vienna, is the world’s largest regional security organization. The lack of consensus among the 57 OSCE member states has repeatedly led to delays in important decisions since last year. All decisions must be made by consensus.
The decision on the future country that will preside over the country is still pending. Estonia ran for president in 2024, but Russia refused to give its consent to the former Soviet republic, critical of the Kremlin.
Fear of infiltration by secret services
Moscow is not only blocking decisions, but has also stopped making payments to the organization. According to information from “Spiegel”, the outstanding amounts amount to more than ten million euros.
There is also fear that the OSCE will be infiltrated by Russian agents. According to the conclusions of Western intelligence services, Russia repeatedly uses international organizations to “create legends” for its secret service employees, according to “Standard”.
However, some of the suspected personnel have already been removed. In the case of a high-ranking official of the OSCE Secretariat, who is also the wife of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation responsible for Ukraine, this was explained for private reasons in June 2022, according to information from APA.