Mr Chairperson,
Today you have proposed a very interesting topic for discussion under the agenda item ‘Security Dialogue’ concerning military education in the OSCE participating States. We see that the Croatian Chairmanship has tried to put it through the prism of the mandate of the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC), including the provisions of the Vienna Document 2011 on confidence- and security-building measures. We well remember that a few years ago, under the Swiss Chairmanship, the FSC discussed quite actively the idea of creating an OSCE ‘network of military academies’, which would have made a tangible contribution to the development of international military co-operation.
However, instead of a unifying agenda, the Croatian Chairmanship chose to prioritise purely anti-Russian attitudes. We deem it necessary to recall that the inclusion in the concept note of the meeting of accusatory passages against the Russian Federation and the invitation to demagogy about ‘the most significant consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine’ not only undermines the very essence of the role of the Chairmanship, which requires impartiality and consideration of the interests of all participating States, but also exacerbates the deplorable state in which the Forum, through the efforts of Croatia and its predecessors in the Chairmanship, finds itself at the present time.
In doing so, Mr. Chairperson, you reaffirm your firm commitment to the degradation of the level of discussion in a time-honoured and respected forum.
If the delegations present are tempted to play the role of gravediggers of the European security dialogue, they can continue to play along with the Chairmanship as before. We are not going to take part in this unimpressive NATO-European Union spectacle. At the same time, in order to save time, we intend to circulate our written contribution both on the issue of military education and on the massive use of Western weapons against the civilian population and infrastructure of our country.
We emphasise that the Delegation of the Russian Federation is not blocking the holding of the 1079th plenary meeting of the FSC. We simply see no point in participating in a discussion with a predetermined outcome.
In accordance with the instructions from the capital, we formally notify you, Mr. Chairperson, as well as all participating States that we are requesting the online connection of a Russian rapporteur – Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia R. V. Miroshnik – to speak in a national capacity at the 1080th plenary meeting of the FSC on 5 June. In this way, we leave room for the rehabilitation of a balanced dialogue in the Forum and expect constructive responses from the Croatian Chairmanship.
Mr Chairperson,
We trust that your team will have the diplomatic wisdom not to sacrifice the pan-European politico-military platform to opportunistic considerations and political hubris.
Thank you for your attention.