MOSCOW, Nov 30. Russia is grateful to everyone, who did not succumb to Western pressure when voting in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and will continue to play an active role in the organization, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Previously, Russia did not receive a seat on the OPCW executive council for 2024. According to the voting results, which were announced at the OPCW session on Wednesday, 21 states of the organization were elected to join the OPCW executive council in 2024. Among the Eastern European group, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were elected to the executive council. The 28th session of the Conference of States Parties to the OPCW is taking place in The Hague from November 27 to December 1.
“The Euro-Atlantic allies, led by the United States, nevertheless imposed elections to the executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from the Eastern European regional group (REG). Lithuania, following the Russian Federation, Poland and Ukraine, submitted a fourth application at the very last moment for three vacancies from the REG — where out of 23 countries, 18 are members of NATO and the European Union or see themselves in these structures in the future. The goal was obvious — to take away as many votes as possible from Russia and ultimately prevent the traditional re-election of our country to the OPCW executive council,” the Foreign Ministry said.
According to a message on the Foreign Ministry website, “Western opponents still managed to secure a majority of votes for their proteges in the OPCW Executive Council from the EEG, namely Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.” “The reason for this is unprecedented political pressure, financial and economic blackmail and, often, simply outright threats from the “collective West” to those participating states that could support our country,” the ministry noted.
At the same time, Moscow “is grateful to everyone who did not succumb to such pressure, found the strength to resist the cynical dictates of the Euro-Atlantic allies led by Washington and Brussels, and cast their vote for Russia, which should rightfully have a seat on the OPCW executive council in “the strength of the largest chemical industry in the region and the most active position on this specialized international platform in countering the efforts of NATO countries and the European Union to turn it into an instrument of their geopolitics,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
«Despite all the anti-Russian aspirations of Western countries, based on the anti-democratic postulates of bloc discipline, the most severe political pressure on dissidents, blackmail and threats, the Russian Federation, together with allies, partners and like-minded people, will continue to play the most active role on the OPCW platform in order to restore the former authority of this organization and the preservation of the integrity of the CWC,» the department assured.