Austria in OSCE: No one but Putin is responsible for continuation of war
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for the war against Ukraine and is the only person on whom it depends to end it.
This was stated by Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg during a speech at the plenary session of the OSCE Ministerial Council on Thursday in Skopje, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"When I left our meeting in Poland a year ago, I left with two conclusions. First, we are facing the ruins of our European security order after Russia's brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. We all know this: There is only one person who can put an end to this war of aggression today - and that is the Russian president. No one else bears this responsibility," said Schallenberg.
According to him, the second conclusion was that member states remain committed to the OSCE. "However, one year on, the shameful truth is that our words have not been matched by our deeds. Most of us are behaving like construction workers standing on a building site with our arms crossed, looking at the building and the things that need repair. However, hardly anyone feels responsible for finally completing the work," he said.
Against this backdrop, he urged the audience "not to complain about the status quo, but to do the work".
"We all know that the OSCE has never been an organisation of like-minded countries or a group of like-minded people. And to a certain extent, our current situation is similar to the context of fifty years ago, when the CSCE was founded. And just as then, so today, all those present in this room share the same responsibility for ensuring that this organisation continues to function. This is no time for tactical games. The OSCE's existential crisis is too threatening and must be stopped," said Schallenberg.
