Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at the opening of the session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

The Russian Federation is extremely concerned about “attempts to use external factors to undermine the internal political situation in Macedonia,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the 125th ministerial session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Brussels. Taking into account the escalation of the situation around Macedonia, Moscow proposed sending Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjörn Jagland to the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Photo: Virginia Mayo, AP

“Given the obvious regional dimension of what is happening in Macedonia, it would be important for the Secretary General to visit Skopje to promote normalization of the situation based on the principles and values of our organization,” the minister said in a speech published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website. The Russian diplomatic department clarified that, as part of his participation in the session of the Committee of Ministers, Lavrov had a working conversation with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.

Speaking before the start of the session, Sergei Lavrov also addressed the Council of Europe with a request to evaluate the laws adopted in Kyiv, including on “decommunization.”

“We consider it necessary for the Council of Europe to evaluate the laws adopted in Kyiv, including the “decommunization” and glorification of Nazi henchmen,” said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. “Attempts to rewrite the results of the Second World War, the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal, challenge the values that lie are at the core of our organization’s activities and are enshrined in the UN Charter.”

“The 70th anniversary of the Victory, which we recently celebrated, including in Strasbourg, is an event of universal human scale,” the Russian minister noted. “We cannot allow the spirit of alliance in the fight against Nazism to be betrayed and the solidarity of today’s actions to ensure peace and security on the continent to be undermined.” "

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