Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of the OSCE annual meeting in the North Macedonian capital Skopje.
The meeting took place “at the request of the OSCE and in consultation with the presidency,” a spokeswoman for the minister said. Schallenberg spoke to Lavrov “about the excellent staffing package for the OSCE leadership positions.” The press spokeswoman emphasized: “As a host state of the OSCE, Austria has a special responsibility, which is why Foreign Minister Schallenberg has complied with this request.”
OSCE “dependent on heart-lung machine”
Ahead of the meeting, Schallenberg called on OSCE states to show “greater commitment” to the Vienna-based organization. He criticized the fact that she was “on the heart-lung machine” as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine. But it is urgently needed as a dialogue forum for the post-war period. In this context, Schallenberg also welcomed the decision of the North Macedonian OSCE Presidency to admit Lavrov to the meeting. Last year, Poland, the country that held the presidency at the time, did not allow Russia’s chief diplomat to enter the country.
Controversy over Lavrov’s visit to Skopje
The relationship between most OSCE countries and Russia is extremely tense due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Lavrov’s visit caused great anger in Ukraine and the Baltic states in the run-up to the conference. The foreign ministers of the countries mentioned boycotted the meeting.
Source: Krone
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