Austria is facing heavy criticism after the country granted visas to Russian lawmakers who have been sanctioned amid Moscow’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine to attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) meeting in Vienna. This comes as the European Union member nation has tried to balance its long-standing position of military neutrality amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. At least 81 OSCE delegates from 20 countries criticised Austria’s decision, in a letter and called upon the government to ban the participation of the sanctioned Russians, reported the Associated Press.
The letter in question was addressed to Austria’s chancellor, foreign minister and other officials in which at least 81 delegates from 20 countries including France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine, and so on have called upon the government in Vienna to ban the participation of sanctioned Russian lawmakers. They wrote, “Russian parliamentarians are an integral part of the power system and complicit in the crimes Russia commits every day in Ukraine.”
Therefore, lawmakers from Moscow “have no place in an institution tasked with promoting sincere dialogue and opposition to the war,” the letter added. They also said that Russia would use the meeting to “sow disinformation, fake news and hate speech” and their participation would be read as “indirect legitimisation and part of a return to ‘business as usual,’” reported AFP.
Since the beginning of the conflict, while the Austrian government has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has asserted the need to maintain diplomatic relations with Moscow. The European country is also home to several international organisations, including the 57-member nation OSCE which was established during the Cold War to facilitate dialogue between the East and West, of which Russia is also a part.
Reports suggest that Moscow plans to send delegates on February 23 and 24 when the OSCE’s parliamentary assembly is set to convene. However, the Russian delegation includes at least 15 lawmakers who have been sanctioned by the EU. Earlier this month, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also defended the government’s decision to issue visas to the sanctioned Russian lawmakers.
He argued that despite the “brutal Russian attack against Ukraine”, it is important to have open channels of communication with Moscow. Additionally, the foreign ministry said that they are legally obligated as the host of OSCE headquarters in the country’s capital city to grant visas to representatives of nations who want to participate. So far, Austria has only sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine but unlike most of its EU counterparts has not sent weapons to Kyiv.
This also comes days after Austria expelled four Russian diplomats for acting “in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status”. Out of the four diplomats, the two stationed at the Russian Embassy in Austria were declared personae non-gratae and ordered to leave the country by February 8. Whereas the other two worked at the Russian mission to the United Nations in Vienna, said the Austrian foreign ministry, in a statement.
It added, the two working with the UN, acted in a way that was inconsistent with the host country agreement between the United Nations and Austria. While the ministry did not detail the actions of the diplomats, officials speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters said that the case involved spying.
(With inputs from agencies)
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