Poland joins boycott of OSCE meeting over Russian foreign minister's attendance

Poland will not participate in a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in North Macedonia this week due to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov having been invited.

Source: AFP, citing Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, as reported by European Pravda.

Szynkowski vel Sęk said that he will not be attending the OSCE meeting or sending any of his deputy ministers to the North Macedonian capital.

Quote: "We simply cannot ignore the fact that the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs will be present at the table of an organisation that is supposed to build peace and security in Europe," he explained.

Calling Lavrov's presence "unacceptable", Szynkowski vel Sęk added that Poland shares the view of the Baltic states, which previously announced that they would skip the OSCE meeting.

Background:

• On 28 November, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba would not be attending the OSCE meeting due to the organisers’ decision to invite Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The foreign ministers of the Baltic states subsequently joined the boycott of the OSCE meeting.
• Kuleba said several more of his counterparts have confirmed to him that they will not be attending the OSCE meeting in protest against Russia’s participation.
• Some states have taken a different decision. For example, the Bulgarian authorities have given Lavrov permission to fly through Bulgarian airspace in order to attend the meeting.

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