Russia slams ‘OSCE bias’
Russia has sharply criticised the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe for its “one-sidedness” and called for reviewing the rights watchdog’s responsibilities.
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin, told the ITAR-TASS news agency on Tuesday that “in recent years the OSCE focused its activities on the post-Soviet space, paying no attention to the rest of Europe. We do not like this one-sidedness”.
“We are interested in preserving this organisation, we are against its becoming history, but the OSCE’s duties must be reviewed,” Yastrzhembsky quoted Putin as telling EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, during their Tuesday meeting.
Russia has in recent years railed against the OSCE for criticising the electoral practices in former Soviet bloc states while being less harsh when discussing Western political practices.
US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Robert Bradtke, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov were due to discuss the OSCE at talks in Moscow on Wednesday, the US embassy said.