Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.
The Baltic countries show a lack of geopolitical knowledge as well as a real strategic irrationality. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are criticizing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and condemning the Russian Federation’s participation in an event of the bloc. For them, it is impossible for Moscow to be part of an OSCE meeting, even though it is a member country of the organization, which shows a great inability on the part of the Baltic states to deal with the geopolitical reality of Europe.
The foreign ministers of the three countries issued a joint statement saying that they will not attend the next OSCE conference due to the presence of the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov. For the Baltic states, Lavrov’s participation is “legitimizing the Russian aggression”, which is why, as supporters of Ukraine, these countries cannot be at the event.
“Lavrov’s attendance at the OSCE Ministerial also risks legitimizing aggressor Russia as a rightful member of our community of free nations, trivializing the atrocious crimes Russia has been committing, and putting up with Russia’s blatant violation and contempt of the OSCE fundamental principles and commitments (…) We, the Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, will not be part of this and will not share responsibility for [the] consequences it will create”, the ministers said in the joint statement on November 29.
As can be seen, the Baltic states’ representatives were disrespectful towards the OSCE, openly attacking the organization for the mere fact of not banning Russia’s Lavrov from the event. By accusing the OSCE of “trivializing atrocious crimes”, these states are not only accusing Moscow, but truly defaming the organization and publicly demoralizing it.
Also, as expected, Ukraine took the same stance as the Baltic countries and decided not to participate in the meeting, claiming that the OSCE is experiencing an “existential crisis” and that the bloc is being held “hostage” by Moscow. For the Kiev regime, the OSCE needs to be “saved” from Russia – in other words, it needs to banish Moscow, otherwise there should be no normality in the group’s activities, stopping all cooperation projects.
“[Russia is creating an] existential crisis within the OSCE [and turning the group] into a hostage of its whims and aggression (…) We should focus our common efforts on how to save the OSCE from Russia, and not send messages about the possibility of returning to the forms of cooperation that existed before February 2022”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in a statement about the case.
In fact, Lavrov’s participation has not even been confirmed yet. The Russian government is still awaiting official authorization from Bulgaria in order to confirm the Russian minister’s participation. The event will take place in the first week of December, in Skopjie, North Macedonia. To reach the location, Lavrov would have to pass through a neighboring country, Bulgaria, which is why official authorization is being awaited – as Bulgaria has adhered to the irrational sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow.
It is nothing really new that Ukraine and the Baltic countries are taking a firm stance against Russia, to the point of even boycotting the OSCE event. Kiev and the Baltics are controlled by fanatically anti-Russian and pro-NATO political elites, willing to take any action with the aim of harming Moscow. In practice, they do not act rationally and put the entire continental European security at risk by fomenting rivalries and hostilities against Russia.
The main problem is that, by boycotting the event, these countries are harming themselves. The OSCE is not a political or ideological organization, but a group focused on multilateral discussions about security and cooperation. The bloc’s members do not need to be allies or friends, just strategic partners in quest of the common goal of making Europe a safer place.
Russia is part of the European geographical reality, and peaceful coexistence is an absolute necessity. Even if other European countries criticize Russia, impose sanctions and maintain hostile relations of enmity, it is necessary to maintain dialogue with Moscow on strategic issues so that the minimum conditions of coexistence are created.
By trying to prevent Russian participation in the OSCE, the Baltics are simply ignoring elementary principles of European security. These states are acting very irresponsibly and risking the entire continental security architecture. As analysts say, dialogue needs to happen, regardless of the political situation. At some point, the Baltic countries will have to understand this, otherwise there will be a serious and irreversible escalation of tensions.
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