VIENNA, December 13. /TASS/. Russia hopes that during its presidency in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2021 Sweden will be committed to the common goals fixed in the organization’s founding documents, Russia’s Permanent Representative to that organization Alexander Lukashevich said in an interview with TASS.
"It won’t be easy to work under the Swedish presidency. They have specific gender-calibrated approaches to the agenda in any international formats. Nevertheless, I hope that common goals committed to paper in the OSCE basic documents of the recent years will be in focus," he said.
The OSCE’s global goal is to build a community of equal and indivisible security, he said, adding that to reach this strategic goal it is necessary to deescalate the military political situation in the Euro-Atlantic region. "We will continue professional dialogue within the existing format, the so-called structured dialogue, including involving military experts. We will support the OSCE’s efforts in settling regional conflicts, combating terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and promoting cybersecurity," Lukashevich said.
According to the Russian diplomat, trade-and-economic cooperation has a big consolidating potential and is less politicized within the OSCE.
"We will focus special attention to the protection of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic countries, in Ukraine and in other countries," he added.