Ukrainian Foreign Minister says OSCE in deep crisis
The active work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is paralyzed following the Russian veto. The Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that it is very likely that the Final Declaration will not be accepted during the upcoming ministerial meeting in Serbia. "The OSCE is in a deep crisis and many Ministers are speaking openly about this," he said.
At the same time, he indicated that Ukraine continues its work with the OSCE. "We try to work actively with the OSCE, despite the fact that this is a consensus organization. We proposed several draft decisions (at the Ministerial meeting), but they, of course, were dismissed by the Russian side. And surely, there is not much incentive to sign the Final Declaration at the Ministerial meeting," he added.
Klimkin said that Russia is blocking all solutions that would enable the OSCE to work effectively. "We must return to fundamental principles. But when decisions are made by consensus and Russia is part of that consensus, moving forward on these activities is, in many cases, impossible," he said. "We must act immediately in many different directions. Cooperation is lacking not only with the OSCE, but with NATO as well. No European organization can guarantee security and unfortunately, we have to be aware of this," the Minister said.