Watched Lavrov's interview on Dec. 22, where he recycled the claim that @mfa_russia uses to justify Russia's demands for guarantees of NATO's non-enlargement. Lavrov: "No participant of the OSCE should ensure their security by damaging the security of others." Let's do a thread.
This claim was also mentioned in the recent MFA document that presented Russia's demands. Here are the relevant excerpts. The undertaking not to strengthen one's security at another's expense is traced back to the 1990 Charter of Paris & the OSCE's 1999 Istanbul document.
Let's check the 1990 Charter of Paris first. osce.org/files/f/docume…. Here's the relevant paragraph. What do we see here? We see that Lavrov is right (re "indivisible" security) but we see that he ignored another sentence in the same paragraph about freedom to choose alliances.
The same idea is underscored further in the text. "Freedom to choose their own security arrangements" refers to freedom to join or not to join alliances (i.e. NATO). Lavrov entirely ignores this language.
To be Lavrov's advocate for a second, the part where it says "in this context" suggests that the recognition of the right to choose alliances has something to do with the changed situation in Europe, "new perception of security". This of course refers to the end of the Cold War.
On the other hand, to poke Lavrov in the eye, the same Paris of Charter contains another provision - adherence to democratic values. Truth be told, Russia has long thrown the Charter of Paris out of the window. OK, on to Istanbul's Charter for European Security.
Here's the link to the document: osce.org/files/f/docume…. The bit Lavrov likes to cite is in red. The bit Lavrov never cites is in green. What do we see? Yes, a pledge not to strengthen one's security at the expense of others. But, yes, also a freedom to choose alliances.
To sum up, Lavrov and @mfa_russia's claims about OSCE commitments are based on partial, highly selective reading of the relevant documents, and are thus little better than propaganda. You are welcome.
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