Speeches and Interviews of the Permanent Representative

 Statement by Alexander Lukashevich,

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OSCE,

at the 1144th meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council

4 May 2017

Mr. Chairperson,
We note the efforts of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to find a solution that would suit all the participating States, which would have allowed the work of the OSCE Office in Yerevan to continue. Unfortunately, the steps taken did not result in a compromise. This is most regrettable.
The Office in Yerevan is one of the most effective OSCE field presences. It has made a substantial contribution to assisting the authorities of the host State in advancing the reform agenda on a wide range of issues and in addressing other practical issues in line with the priorities of the Armenian Government. The Office works in a depoliticized and balanced manner, paying equal attention to all three OSCE dimensions. The activities are developed in close co-ordination with the host authorities and have always received high praise from both the authorities in Yerevan and local civil society.
We note that the assistance to the Armenian authorities was aimed exclusively at national capacity-building, carried out within the State borders of Armenia and did not affect the interests of third countries.
We trust that the disagreements that have arisen regarding the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan will not affect co-operation in other areas of our Organization’s work.
We request that this statement be appended to the journal of the day.
Thank you for your attention.