Russia suspends its participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), accusing it of "Russophobia" and "discrimination" in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
The statements were adopted today by both houses of the Russian parliament, AFP reported.
"Biased and discriminatory approaches, double standards and total Russophobia testify to the extreme deterioration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as a mechanism for inter-parliamentary cooperation," the upper house, the Federation Council, condemned in its statement.
In a statement on Telegram, the Federation Council said that "repeated calls" by Russian parliamentarians for "equal inter-parliamentary dialogue and the creation of a European security architecture have not met with understanding or an adequate response" from the leaders of this OSCE structure.
"For this reason, the Russian senators and deputies of the State Duma consider it justified and legitimate to suspend the participation of the Russian delegation in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly," as well as the payment of the Russian contribution to the budget of this organization, the Federation Council stressed.
A similar declaration was adopted by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Established in August 1975, when the Western and Soviet blocs agreed to create a platform for dialogue between the two enemy camps, the OSCE now unites 57 countries. Since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, it has experienced the most serious crisis in its history.
Ukraine has called for Russia to be expelled from the OSCE, as it was from the Council of Europe, which Moscow left in March 2022 | BGNES
