The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation sent a note to UNESCO after the visas were not issued to Russian diplomats

The Permanent Delegation of Russia to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sent a note to its secretariat about France’s failure to fulfill its obligations to ensure the visit of foreign delegations to UNESCO events. Earlier, diplomats were not issued visas to participate in the 33rd session of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO International Program for the Development of Communications in Paris, transmits TASS with reference to the permanent mission.

“Our representation through diplomatic channels appealed to the UNESCO secretariat – sent a note in which it raised the issue of France’s failure to fulfill its obligations in accordance with the agreement between UNESCO and the French side to the secretariat,” the agency was told.

The representative office noted that the request for visas was sent through the consular department of the French Embassy in Moscow, but two employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry were unable to receive them in time. The dates and purposes of the trip to Paris were known, the permanent mission added. The French Foreign Ministry’s statement that there were no reports of problems with visas speaks of “another attempt at juggling facts.”

“There is an agreement between UNESCO and France under which France, as the host country, is obliged to provide all possible assistance in ensuring the arrival of official delegations. And all the participating countries were invited to this event through UNESCO,” the permanent mission said.

On September 24, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova informedthat France did not issue visas to Russian representatives to participate in the UNESCO event. She recalled that the UNESCO forum is the only event in the UN system that is aimed at protecting freedom of opinion and supporting independent media in developing countries. According to Zakharova, discussing such principles at the forum and at the same time refusing to issue visas to the Russian delegation is “somewhat strange, if not absurd.”

Earlier, Poland refused to issue visas to Russian representatives for participation in the 29th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA) of the OSCE. The Russian Foreign Ministry considered this decision provocative, and the Kremlin said that the exclusion of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from the event was a “big headache” for the organization. In addition, Poland did not issue visas to Russian parliamentarians for participation in the autumn session of the OSCE PA.