Russia and Belarus veto Estonia's election as OSCE chair: what happens next

On Tuesday, November 21, Russia and Belarus vetoed the election of Estonia as the OSCE chair in 2024. This happened during a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the Austrian capital Vienna.

This was reported by ERR, citing Estonian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bretty Sarapuu. Since decisions in the OSCE are made by consensus, Estonia was not elected chairman of the organization that day.

The situation is currently unclear as to which country will eventually take over. Estonia remains the only candidate from the European Union. According to Sarapuu, Estonia will discuss this incident with other EU countries.

She also said that a meeting of the organization's foreign ministers will take place next week in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, which is currently the OSCE chair. The issue is expected to be on the agenda again.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained that he could not get to the OSCE meeting, which will be held in the capital of North Macedonia from November 30 to December 1. The airspace of this country is closed to Russian aircraft due to sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.

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