Poland has decided to join Ukraine and the Baltic nations in boycotting the OSCE Foreign Ministers' meeting scheduled on Thursday and Friday in Skopje, capital of North Macedonia.
The decision is due to the scheduled presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the meeting.
“We cannot ignore that the Russian Foreign Minister will be at the table of an organisation expected to promote peace and security in Europe,” Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, Secretary of State at the Polish Foreign Ministry, explained.
Foreign Ministers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have also withdrawn their attendance. They believe Lavrov’s presence brings with it a risk of legitimising Russia as a full-fledged component “of our community of free nations.”
Szynkowski vel Sęk said Warsaw shared the Baltic countries’ sentiments.
Ukraine had announced its absence from the summit on Tuesday.
However, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will travel to Skopje, with the aim of securing additional support for Ukraine.
