Airspace closed to Russian state aircraft, mysterious participation of the Russian Foreign Minister in the OSCE meeting in Skopje

Two weeks before the meeting of the 30th Ministerial Council of the member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will be held in Skopje, North Macedonia, it remains unclear whether the Russian chief diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, will attend the meeting.

The meeting on November 30 and December 1 will be held in Skopje, as North Macedonia currently chairs the OSCE.

The participation in this meeting of the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is certain, according to the statement of the American ambassador to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, as organizer, said on November 15 that so far there is no information that the US Secretary of State will not come, therefore the country is preparing for his presence.

Meanwhile, according to Osmani, the participation of the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, is not a problem either. However, the airspace is closed to Russian state aircraft, after the imposition of sanctions by the European Union and the states of the region, with the exception of Serbia, which decided against Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine. For Lavrov to reach Skopje, the opening of the airspace from North Macedonia and from another country, Greece or Bulgaria, is needed.

"The decision on EU sanctions does not apply to events of a multilateral nature such as the OSCE. Therefore, it is a decision of governments that must be approved, but it has a legal basis in the EU. Now, we and at least one of our neighboring countries must make such a decision. Bulgaria or Greece so that a flight can be secured for the Russian diplomat. However, at this stage we are processing the requests. In a few days we will come out with a final position", said Osmani.

Of the neighboring countries, only Serbia has not closed its airspace to Russian planes. Meanwhile, due to the Russian veto, the question of the next chairmanship of the OSCE remains unresolved. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, said that the three scenarios for possible solutions that have circulated so far in the public opinion are still in play.

The first is to reach a consensus on the chairmanship of Estonia, the second is to find another country for which 57 member states will reach a consensus and the third is for North Macedonia to be at the head of the organization next year as well.

"If we cannot find an alternative state until the meeting with the Ministerial Council in Skopje, then theoretically the question can be asked if we should continue for another year", said chief diplomat Osmani.

76 delegations will participate in the Ministerial Council in Skopje, which will be held on November 30 and December 1, 57 from the OSCE member states and other partner states of the organization.

For reasons of security and the smooth running of the Council, the Macedonian Government decided to declare November 30 as a holiday.