Exactly one year to the day after the start of the Russian invasion war in Ukraine, the symbol catches the eye. On Thursday 23 and Friday 24 February, six Russian parliamentarians, including five under European sanctions, were able to travel unnoticed to Vienna to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an international Institution that has its headquarters to attend headquarters in the Austrian capital.
“International law must be respected, even if it is not popular,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in the run-up to the issuing of visas to Russian parliamentarians, despite protests from more than 80 elected representatives of the European Union (EU), Canada and the United States . According to the signatories, the members of the Russian delegation, but also the Belarusian delegation, “have no place in an institution responsible for promoting honest dialogue”.
This is the first time since the conflict began that members of the Russian Duma and Senate have been able to set foot in an EU country. It was even feared that the six Russians would seize the opportunity to take part in the traditional annual ball of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), a far-right formation with pro-Russian tendencies, on Friday evening. The Austrian government had to ask her not to waltz on the grounds that her visa was reserved “solely” for her participation in the OSCE meeting.
electric atmosphere
Austria, a neutral country that is not a NATO member and has long been uncertain about its relations with Russia, said it was constrained by the fact that it houses the headquarters of this cooperative institution created amid the Cold War, to mark the appeasement between them the two blocs, but whose functioning is now completely blocked by Russia. Its parliamentary assembly is a body that brings together just over three hundred elected representatives from fifty-seven member countries for sessions that usually arouse little interest. The Russians could not attend the two 2022 gatherings in Poland and the UK because they did not receive the necessary visas.
In an interview with Le Monde, the head of the Russian delegation, deputy Piotr Tolstoy, said he was pleased with the reception, very timely at a time when Moscow wants to deny any international isolation. “Austrians have come under unprecedented pressure not to issue visas to our delegations, he assures us, but they have honored their commitments and that is normal. The principle of consensus is the foundation of the OSCE. ” Mr. Tolstoy, who is also Vice-President of the Duma, also justifies Moscow’s interest in sending its representatives: “We must maintain a channel of conversation at least at this level. Who else are you going to talk to after we win? Europe has gone very far in its aggressiveness, but it will be necessary to rebuild relations with the continent’s largest country. »
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