THE HAGUE, November 25. /TASS/. Russia is worried about how the West is paralyzing the activities of the Eastern European Group within the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Russian Ambassador to The Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW Vladimir Tarabrin said.
"Eighteen out of the group’s 23 members are either full participants or associate themselves with the European Union and NATO," he said at the 29th conference of OPCW member states. "This effectively allows NATO to monopolize two out of the five groups in the region, which constitutes a violation of point 23 of Article 8 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which states that 'due regard' be 'specially paid to equitable geographical distribution, to the importance of chemical industry, as well as to political and security interests.'"
"We view the approach of the 18 members of the Eastern European Group who demonstratively ignore the positions of the other members to be irresponsible," the Russian diplomat said. "Such actions literally paralyze the work of the entire group, which is unable to pass resolutions taking into account the interests of all of its members."
The OPCW conference is being held in The Hague from November 25 through 29. The conference is expected to address such issues as the situation in Ukraine, the Syrian chemical dossier, and the organization’s budget for 2025. An election for new members of the OPCW Executive Council for 2025-2027 will also be held. Three countries, including Russia, are vying for two seats in the Eastern European Group.
Tarabrin said earlier that Russia’s opponents would spare no effort to prevent Russia’s election. He did not rule out that the West may resort to any provocations, fraud, pressure, blackmail or threats to keep Russia away from OPCW steering bodies.