Ukraine and Lithuania shun OSCE meeting in Austria over Russian presence
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Loading... - Antea Vukovic
- 23 Feb 2023
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Austria's decision to allow Russians to travel to Vienna for a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Assembly has led to international protest.
The meeting got underway on Thursday without the Ukrainian delegation, which described the planned presence of Russian lawmakers as “an affront”.
Austria granted the Russians visas even though they are under European Union sanctions and despite protests from 20 countries including Britain, France and Canada.
Ukraine and Lithuania are boycotting this week's event in Vienna.
"Our members of the parliament do not want to sit in the same room or in the same building where there are Russian representatives who instigated, supported and they continue to promote war in Ukraine," said Vaidotas Verba, Lithuanian Ambassador to the OSCE.
"More than 80 members of parliament from 20 countries wrote a letter to the leaders of the Austrian parliament and government asking specifically not to issue visas and reconsider this decision."
A Slovak delegate read out a statement from the Ukrainian delegation, which said that “the presence of these warmongers in Vienna is an affront to everything that the OSCE stands for”.
“They are not here for genuine dialogue nor for cooperation,” it added. “They are here to spread their propaganda ... they are here to try and justify the war crimes they have committed and desecrate the principles of international law and human decency.” Read More…
