Poland to set OSCE’s focus on Ukraine as Warsaw heads organization in 2022
Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) when Poland assumes the leadership of the organization in 2022, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told Polish public broadcaster Polskie Radio on Jan. 3.
Zbigniew Rau, the current Polish Foreign Minister, will officially assume the duties of the head of the OSCE during an upcoming Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on Jan. 13.
The OSCE, of which Russia is a member, should focus on eastern European security and managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Przydacz said.
He also expressed hopes that Russia would engage in talks that encompass not only the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, but Russia’s military occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula as well.
Economic shocks, including the energy crisis raging across Europe, are also having a direct impact on the continent’s security, Przydacz added.
In September 2021, a number of European Parliament legislators published an open letter accusing Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom of market manipulation.
Gas prices in Europe have spiked as a result of under-supply by Russia, leaving many European gas stores low as the continent headed into winter.
In October 2021, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, accused Russia of committing “the weaponization of the gas supply” following Russian threats to cut gas supply to Moldova.
In December 2021, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki warned about Russia using levers such as the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to engage in economic warfare against the West.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
