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Diplomat hits out at Poland for refusing to let Lavrov attend OSCE meeting

Maria Zakharova explained that Poland, as the OSCE chairing country, should ensure equal working conditions for all member states

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Warsaw’s chairmanship of the OSCE is practically torpedoing this negotiating venue and dealing a blow to security in Europe by refusing to let Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov participate in the 29th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists on Tuesday.

The Polish OSCE Chairmanship earlier announced that Russia had been invited to an OSCE Ministerial Meeting set to be held in Lodz on December 1-2 as invitations were always sent to all OSCE member states. News emerged at the end of last week that the Polish Foreign Ministry had denied entry to Russia’s delegation led by Lavrov.

"Nowadays, the Polish chairmanship is practically demolishing this negotiating venue when they physically prevent a delegation from taking part and speaking. Is this the first time we have seen this recently? No. They, much like our so-called former American partners, are doing everything to physically limit our presence at a wide range of forums," she specified.

The diplomat explained that Poland, as the OSCE chairing country, should ensure equal working conditions for all member states. "Poland is dealing a blow to the organization’s very system, that is, security and cooperation in Europe. After all, it is precisely this organization, even though formally it does not have its own charter, being more like a negotiating venue, that established itself as an organization in the political discourse," she added.

Zakharova reiterated that the OSCE was created as a certain opportunity for countries with different opinions and even ideologies to hold dialogue on complex issues.

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Foreign policy Poland Maria Zakharova

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