Moscow enraged after Poland prohibits FM Lavrov from entering country for OSCE meeting

The Russian foreign ministry was fuming in anger on November 19 following Poland's announcement that they would not allow Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to cross the Polish border to attend a meeting of the OSCE because of European sanctions against him.

"Delegations should be adjusted to the current EU regulations and not include persons that are sanctioned by the European Union", the Polish OSCE chairmanship said in a statement on November 18 according to Moscow Times.

The Polish public Television further shared that the country has also barred Russian delegates from attending a session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Warsaw on November 24-26, with Poland currently also chairing the OSCE.

Lavrov was scheduled to attend the OSCE Ministerial Council, a body grouping the foreign ministers of the OSCE member states, occurring in Łódź on December 1 and 2.

"Not only did Warsaw discredit itself, but it also caused irreparable damage to the credibility of the organization as a whole",  the Russian ministry said.

In their outraged response to this decision, the ministry called the Polish decision "unprecedented and provocative" and said that they were convinced that "all sensible politicians share the position of the Russian side regarding the inadmissibility of such actions".

The Russian delegation will instead be led by Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich.