OSCE officially approves compromise with Russia that will prolong existence of the organisation

North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, the current OSCE Chairman-in-Office, announced on Friday the election of Malta as the country to hold the OSCE Chairpersonship in 2024, as well as the extension of the mandate of three key officials of the organisation after months of blocking by Russia.

Source: European Pravda, citing the website of OSCE.

According to the decision of the OSCE Ministerial Council, Malta will hold the OSCE Chairpersonship in 2024, as well as the extension of the office terms of Secretary General Helga Schmid, Teresa Ribeiro, Representative on Freedom of the Media, and Kairat Abdrakhmanov, High Commissioner on National Minorities, until September 2024.

The office term of Matteo Mecacci, Head of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, was also extended.

According to Osmani, the consensus of the OSCE members on the election of Malta for the 2024 Chairpersonship and on the staffing decisions "reveals, once more, the importance and efficacy of building agreement through negotiation and compromise on behalf of our common goals and objectives".

"Despite our differences and disagreements, we have shown the strategic vision required to continue our constructive efforts toward implementing and applying the OSCE’s competitive advantages through the work of its executive structures to the benefit of all our people," the North Macedonian Foreign Minister was quoted as saying on the organisation's website.

Background: Russia has been blocking the work of the OSCE for many months, primarily by opposing the election of Estonia as the Chairpersonship 2024. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has not ruled out blocking the OSCE's activities by not voting on key personnel decisions.

Since all decisions in the OSCE must be taken by consensus, due to Moscow's obstruction, the other states made concessions and supported neutral Malta, which Russia had already agreed to.

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