Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg said that all 57 countries in the OSCE had agreed that every single member state should be present for the Ministerial Council which is currently being held in Malta.

Borg was asked by The Malta Independent about criticism from certain countries on the presence of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the event – Foreign Ministers from Poland and Baltic States said that they would be walking out when Lavrov would address the plenary.

“This isn’t a matter of Malta having any reason to invite Lavrov.  The OSCE has 57 countries: the 57 countries all agreed that this meeting should be held with all 57 countries present and Malta was then asked by many – and thanked by many for this – to lead and organise the ministerial council, so as one of the participating states [Russia] was invited,” he said.

He noted that Lavrov had been in New York in the United States last September for the United Nations General Assembly and this is how these organisations work.

Asked about the criticism from countries such as Poland and Lithuania about Lavrov’s presence, Borg speculated that Poland and the Baltic countries are angry at Lavrov because Russia “is leading a war on their neighbours Ukraine and then come to international organisations while bare-facedly breaking their rules.”

“I understand then and I appreciate their anger because obviously their position vis-à-vis the war [in Ukraine] is identical to ours,” he said.

Asked, finally, what he would like to see emerging from the two-day council meeting, Borg said that besides serving as a bridge, he wanted decisions to be taken.

“I am cautiously optimistic that we can reach a decision on the leadership – the four positions that can give this organisation the power to keep moving forward, because it has an important role in this period but especially in the hopefully not so distant future when the war in Ukraine ends,” he said.

He added that there are a number of other conflicts and challenges around, saying that he had visited 15 or 16 countries where the OSCE is working, and concluded that the OSCE’s work therefore is very important.