The State Duma proposed to suspend the Russian Federation’s membership in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

On February 21, the State Duma and the Federation Council will simultaneously decide to suspend Russia’s participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE PA) and stop paying contributions. Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced this on Tuesday at a plenary meeting of the lower house. The Duma may consider the possibility of leaving other international organizations: deputies are already analyzing treaties ratified by the Russian parliament.

The draft resolution on an appeal to the parliaments of the OSCE participating states, suggesting the suspension of the participation of the permanent Russian delegation in the OSCE PA, was on the agenda of the plenary meeting of the State Duma on February 13, but after a short discussion, the deputies decided to consider it a week later – simultaneously with the Federation Council.

The head of the permanent delegation of the Russian Federation to the OSCE PA, Deputy Speaker of the Duma Pyotr Tolstoy (United Russia) took the floor to “talk about the current situation and consult.” According to him, in recent years the OSCE PA “has turned into a living forum, which, instead of finding common solutions in the field of security, accuses our country of all mortal sins.”

“This organization has become Russophobic,” Mr. Tolstoy stated and recalled that members of the Russian delegation “were consistently denied visas to participate in OSCE meetings,” official appeals from Russian delegates were ignored, but “various resolutions blaming Russia were adopted.”

“We must not tolerate this. And we won’t,” the deputy promised, calling on his colleagues to “decide on a common position” in order to make an appeal to the parliaments of the OSCE countries next week on the suspension of membership and payment of contributions.

Answering a question from Nikolai Kolomeytsev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation), who asked whether Russia should suspend membership in other international organizations, Pyotr Tolstoy admitted that this idea seemed sound to him: “We have taken on so many of these obligations that they are still do not allow Russia to behave independently in various areas – from the economy to healthcare. These tentacles of international organizations still determine the policies and behavior of a number of ministries and departments. We, as a parliament, need to decide on this – and on membership not only in the OSCE, but also in the World Health Organization, the International Olympic Committee, WADA and other these wonderful organizations, to which Russia still pays membership fees.” “This is my personal opinion,” the vice speaker made a reservation, just in case, but said that, together with Duma committees, he is already working on analyzing international treaties ratified by the Russian parliament.

Chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky (LDPR) went even further and expressed the opinion that the OSCE PA “has turned into a clone of the Verkhovna Rada (of Ukraine.— “Kommersant”)”, to “a platform that obviously does not hear us.” “I dare to suggest that after the victory (of Russia in the Northern Military District.— “Kommersant”) the situation will change,” added Mr. Slutsky. And he cited BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a positive example of interparliamentary cooperation.

“It’s time for us to say goodbye to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,” Vyacheslav Volodin supported the mood of his colleagues. “The organization is absolutely dependent, politicized, dances to the tune, performs all the dances of Washington. What should we do there? But the worst thing in this situation is that we also pay money, and we are one of the largest payers. Therefore, we need to go out and stop transferring funds.”

At the same time, the speaker expressed the hope that after the June elections to the European Parliament, “no one will remain there from those who are pursuing this Russophobic policy, imposing alien values ​​on us, interfering in internal affairs.”

Mr. Volodin proposed to consider the issue of suspending the participation of the Russian delegation in the OSCE PA simultaneously with the Federation Council on February 21.

The Upper House promptly responded to the call of their colleagues. Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev wrote in his Telegram channel that senators will “most carefully study” the proposals of deputies in order to develop an agreed position. He noted that the negative assessment given by the Duma to the activities of the OSCE PA “is beyond doubt.” “Now the OSCE PA is actually occupied by parliamentarians from NATO countries and the European Union, who have an absolute majority there and are shamelessly using this platform in their own geopolitical interests,” Mr. Kosachev complained. At the same time, in his opinion, it is important for Russia to maintain “the right to use the public platform where and when it meets our national interests.” “We do not exclude that one day the OSCE PA, which is now in such a deplorable state, may again become such a platform if this meets the task of explaining Russian concerns and promoting our vision of a just world order,” the senator concluded.

Ksenia Veretennikova