site.btaOSCE Ministerial Council Meeting Kicks Off in Skopje

The 30th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) started in Skopje on Thursday. Members of more than 70 delegations arrived from participating and partner States and many of them attended the informal dinner on Wednesday. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived after the dinner, entered the Boris Trajkovski Hall without making a statement.

Austria's chief diplomat Alexander said he understood his colleagues who decided not to attend the meeting in Skopje in protest against Lavrov's presence, but he believes the OSCE is an organization that the states need because it is a platform for dialogue. Given the global situation, the need for the OSCE will be even greater in the future, he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen commented on the Gaza Strip conflict, saying that there is only one to blame for the October 7 massacre of hostages and the suffering of the people of Gaza and that the world should be united to free Gaza from Hamas.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski talked briefly to the media before opening the meeting. He said his country had invested a lot of effort during its Chairmanship-in-Office of the OSCE and the meeting was the culmination of North Macedonia's one-year presidency.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who attended Wednesday's informal dinner, left North Macedonia due to work commitments, the local media reported.