Vienna, 12 January 2023 (MIA) — Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has flagrantly violated European security architecture and OSCE foundational values; it threatens peace in Europe and beyond, Minister of Foreign Affairs and current OSCE chairman Bujar Osmani told a news conference after officially taking over the OSCE chairpersonship in Vienna, Austria.

“Our first mission and goal is to call for an immediate end to the aggression, stop the suffering of the people on the ground, withdraw all troops and re-commit to the principles and values of this Organization,” Minister Osmani said at the joint press conference held Thursday together with OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid.

Asked if a peace agreement would be possible in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin in power in Moscow, Osmani said the decision who would lead Russia was made by Russia’s citizens and that North Macedonia, while chairing OSCE, would strictly adhere to the principles of the organization, continue communication with all member countries and not violate the principles it was bound to protect.

“My message to Russia, a member country of this organization, is that it must immediately stop the aggression and return to respecting the principles it committed to when the OSCE was formed,” North Macedonia’s foreign minister said.

Pointing out that Ukraine was going to be the OSCE’s chairpersonship’s priority in 2023, he added that also addressed would be other tensions. These include potential and latent conflicts such as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Moldova and Transnistria, and Kosovo and Serbia, he said.

Speaking of Southeast Europe, Osmani highlighted that North Macedonia would share its experience in developing a multi-ethnic democracy to strengthen regional security and peace.

“We are carefully monitoring the developments in Kosovo’s north,” Osmani said, urging Serbia and Kosovo to continue talks mediated by the EU.

He also said the OSCE would offer the services and capacities of its mission in Kosovo to support this dialogue.

The 2023 OSCE chairman stressed that any conflicts in Europe that could escalate due to various political agendas, including in the Western Balkans, should be monitored equally carefully.

“Open issues remain in the Western Balkans that could potentially escalate, so it is important to work on motivating the region to continue its path towards European integration, which has proven to be the strongest driving force for moving the region forward and is also the greatest cohesive tool for preventing conflicting narratives,” Osmani said.

“Of course, there is a place for the OSCE here, too,” he added, recalling the first OSCE mission in the country and saying it served as an example of a success story and a role model for other countries.

OSCE’s Schmid said the key task of the OSCE was to support Ukraine and its people while also offering help to neighboring countries affected by the war.

She recalled that the OSCE was formed during the Cold War in order to prevent potential conflicts and reduce tensions in Europe.

She added that in attacking Ukraine, Russia violated the basic principles of the Helsinki Declaration.

She said communication channels needed to be kept open but measures also needed to be taken, pointing out as an example that shortly after the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, 45 OSCE member states adopted the so-called Moscow Mechanism to pinpoint human rights violations on the ground.

Regarding the three detained members of the OSCE mission to Ukraine in April last year, Schmid said all formal and informal channels of communication were being used for their release.

She said they reiterated their request for their release many times after the OSCE officials were detained seven months ago.

”They are being held in unknown conditions, which raises our concerns about their condition. We are in contact with their families and are keeping them informed of what we are doing,” Schmid said, stressing that they were working for their safe release while not specifying which side in the conflict had detained the OSCE mission members. mr/