Lavrov “non grata” in Skopje, calls Blinken and Borell “cowards”

The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, ended his participation in the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Skopje with a press conference today. He accused American, European and British diplomats of refusing to meet him in order to portray him as isolated and called them “cowards”.

“They tried to portray me as isolated here in Skopje with photos of the dinner. But I had a wonderful dinner with Macedonian wines and dishes and in the morning I was present at the official opening of the OSCE meeting. And there were no people from Ukraine and the Baltic states, neither Blinken and Cameroon nor Borell. “They are just cowards who tried to isolate me,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov faced criticism from almost all countries throughout the summit over the aggression in Ukraine and chose to attack as a defensive measure. He accused the West of allowing the OSCE to collapse and undermining European security.

“We have strong evidence that Western countries have not learned their lessons, but are using the influence of the OSCE to blame Russia and impose sanctions against us.” We were the sole voice of justification that the OSCE was created for security cooperation. “In the political sphere, everything is destroyed, there is a refusal to adopt an arms convention, as well as numerous agreements to ensure security and stability and reduce weapons on the European stage,” Lavrov said.

Although Russia violated the principles of the OSCE with its aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Lavrov nevertheless said that “the West is acting destructively and does not respect the basic principles of the Organization”.

“The Macedonian Chairmanship of the OSCE has chosen a good slogan, that it is about people. I believe that when we talk about people, we are talking about all citizens, including those who are not our citizens. Also for our citizens in Estonia and Latvia,” said Lavrov.

He accused the West of inciting people against Russia and turned against the President of the Macedonian Parliament, Talat Xhaferi, for placing a decorative Albanian flag on his desk.

“The President of the Macedonian Assembly has placed an Albanian flag on a seat in parliament. I encourage the ethnic groups in the Balkans to live in peace and not to join the Western sanctions against Russia. The West wants to incite nations against Russia. The peoples of the Balkans have gone through difficult times, they have a common code and should not rebel against each other. “In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have seen that three nations can live together,” said the Russian Foreign Minister.

To show his closeness to the Macedonian people, Lavrov said that Russia “has friendly feelings towards Macedonia”. “I see your people and feel their warmth towards us,” he added.

Speaking about the problem between Skopje and Sofia, Lavrov suggested that “the Macedonians decide for themselves” and reproached the West for its behavior towards North Macedonia and other Balkan countries.

“If we make a general assessment, not only for relations with Bulgaria, but also in the Balkans, I would say that these problems lie in the behavior of the West towards the former Yugoslav states, as well as in the attitude towards Slovenia and Poland. I know that you have difficulties, you had the humiliating name FYROM, now you have “the North”, we know that you have no territorial claims against Greece and Bulgaria. But this is for you to decide,” Lavrov said.

He did not forget to mention the religious closeness to the ethnic Macedonians and emphasized: “I was also in Ohrid.” Fantastic city. I had the feeling that I was closer to God.

Regarding Serbia, Lavrov said that Belgrade would not open a new chapter in negotiations with the European Union if it did not impose sanctions on Russia and will not become a member without accepting Kosovo.

According to Lavrov, the talks between Belgrade and Pristina mediated by the EU have stalled due to the EU’s attitude towards Serbia.

“Regarding the case of Serbia and Kosovo, I remember that in 2013, ten years ago, the EU, as the main mediator and at the invitation of the UN General Assembly, solemnly announced that an agreement had been reached on the association of a community of Serb municipalities. Nothing happened and the people who were put in charge of governing this Serbian area in Pristina categorically refuse to implement this agreement. And what is the EU doing – do you think they are asking them to behave? No, they are asking Serbia to change its attitude. In addition, a new document establishing the Association of Serb Municipalities has been drafted, which is drastically different from the one Belgrade and Pristina agreed on ten years ago. “It is very similar to many agreements reached under the auspices of the OSCE,” Lavrov said.

Otherwise, the 30th OSCE Summit in Skopje was attended by delegations from 76 countries, 57 of which are OSCE members, the rest being partner countries from the Mediterranean and Asia. Russia prevented Estonia from chairing the OSCE for the next year, but a compromise was reached to allow Malta, a non-NATO country, to lead the organization. Lavrov was sharply criticized by almost all foreign ministers of the OSCE member states for the military aggression against Ukraine.

/The Geopost