OSCE recognized Russia as a colonial empire

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has recognized Russia as a colonial empire that denies equal rights and self-determination to indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities within the country. This is stated in the Vancouver Declaration, adopted during the annual session, which took place from June 30 to July 4, 2023.

“The violent imperial and colonial character of the Russian Federation is fully manifested in its unprovoked and illegal war against Ukraine, and is also expressed in the soft annexation of Belarus, the occupation of Georgian territory and support for separatism in Moldova, as well as in the forceful, permanent and conscious subjugation of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities within the Russian Federation who are denied equal rights and self-determination and who are subjected to violence and exploitation in violation of the Declaration of Helsinki and the UN Charter ,” the document says.

Decolonial activists note that Russia is being recognized as a colonial empire for the first time in history.