Moscow condemns Poland for revoking visas of Russian experts ahead of OSCE conference

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has condemned Poland’s decision to revoke the visas of Russian experts who were due to participate in the Warsaw Conference on Human Dimensions, held under the Finnish Presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

In a statement published on the ministry’s website, Zakharova described the move as an “egregious act of arbitrariness” by the Polish authorities, Caliber.Az reports.

She said that at least five representatives of Russian public organisations had their visas canceled shortly before the event, despite being invited to attend under the auspices of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office.

The diplomat argued that the incident should prompt OSCE member states to begin discussions on relocating the headquarters of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and other OSCE activities from Poland. She said Warsaw had demonstrated “complete incompetence” in fulfilling its duties as the host country for OSCE forums.

Zakharova also claimed that due to the actions of NATO member states, the principles of security and cooperation in Europe had been largely eroded.

Earlier, the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law (ROIIP) said that Poland had annulled the visas of its experts on October 5, just before the start of the conference, without providing any explanation for the decision.

By Sabina Mammadli