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OSCE falls hostage to bloc discipline within EU, NATO, says Lavrov

Western partners are trying to substitute international law with a certain order based on the rules that they themselves establish, the Russian Foreign Minister pointed out

STOCKHOLM, December 2. /TASS/. The OSCE has fallen hostage to the bloc discipline within the framework of the European Union and NATO, with no progress visible in strengthening security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm on Thursday.

"There is no advancement towards solving the key task facing our organization, I mean the strengthening of security based on cooperation and not on confrontation. The aim specified by our leaders at the 2010 summit in Astana - shaping the community of equal, comprehensive and indivisible security - remains in force," Lavrov said.

"However, today the OSCE finds itself in a deplorable state, it has become hostage to the bloc discipline within the framework of the European Union and NATO," he stressed.

According to the top Russian diplomat, western partners are trying to substitute international law with a certain order based on the rules that they themselves establish, premised on their own exclusiveness. "We increasingly hear voices calling to break the rule of consensus. This could be heard several times at yesterday’s dinner, although without consensus our organization will lose its uniqueness and value as a platform for the equal interaction of all parties," Lavrov stressed.

"An efficient multilateralism, that our partners also like to manifest, won’t happen if one group of countries puts themselves first, applying methods of pressure and dishonest competition to those who disagree - a vaccine diplomacy, or fake media campaigns or even illegal sanctions," Lavrov added.