Photo : OSCE/Vladimir Trofimchuk
IN FOCUS
By Ashwin Dhanabalan
The 1350th Special Plenary Meeting of the OSCE Permanent council
Poland taking over as the OSCE Chair
On 13 January, the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held a special plenary meeting in Vienna. The meeting was held in the historical city that marked Poland’s official take over of the council's chairmanship. Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau addressed the meeting and discussed a plethora of issues and agendas that Poland as the council chair would be focusing on in 2022.
Ukraine-Russia military escalations discussed
The meeting was held in the backdrop of the escalating tensions; with the Russian military build-up on the Ukrainian border and no sign of de-escalation in sight. Rau initiated addressing the military escalations in the meeting, stating: "It seems, that the risk of war in the OSCE area is now greater, than ever before in the last 30 years." He also talked about the possibility of a significant military build-up in the region. Finally, on the tensions, Rau stated: "For several weeks we have been faced with a possibility of a major military escalation in Eastern Europe."
To better assess the situation and improve the security in the OSCE region, Rau revived the need for "finding peaceful solutions to regional and protracted conflicts". He also mentioned the need to reinvigorate the debate about European security by first committing to uphold the Helsinki principles in full conformity with international law. Lastly, focusing on the conflict in Ukraine, he appreciated the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, which made a significant difference and proposed the extension of the mandate beyond 31 March 2022.
Responses from Russia and the US
Russian and US officials were pessimistic about the talks at the OSCE meeting as there was no breakthrough regarding the negotiations. Russia's envoy to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said: "Most member countries preferred to look into the Polish priorities…The OSCE has a big agenda of its own, which has accumulated many systemic problems.." The US Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said: "The drumbeat of war is sounding loud, and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill."
Moscow felt more discontented as their demands to NATO and the EU were not discussed. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov expressed that the talks had reached "a dead-end or a difference in approaches". In response, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, concerned about the outcome of the meeting, said: "the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine." This was similar to the concern raised by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman who mentioned that the US was doubtful if Russia's actual intentions of coming to the table were in good faith or just a pretext to justify war.
Other issues discussed
Rau addressed divergent issues relating to the OSCE region. He highlighted a few, as he stated: "Protracted conflicts, military confrontation, radicalization, terrorism, together with ongoing erosion of arms control regimes, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and profound violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals are leading to rising uncertainty, unpredictability, fragmentation and growing fears in our societies." He revived the Helsinki decalogue and maintained that issues should be dealt with a more proactive and positive approach. Furthermore, he reiterated the need to have a shared commitment to the people in the region and each other for building a future without conflict and war.
References:
Jeremy Herb, Jennifer Hansler, Alex Marquardt and Kylie Atwood, "US warns Russia is sounding 'drumbeats of war' against Ukraine as crisis talks end with no breakthrough," CNN, 14 January 2022.
Thomas Escritt and Tom Balmforth, "Russia says Ukraine talks hit 'dead end', Poland warns of risk of war," Reuters, 14 January 2022.
"Russia sees no reason to restart talks on Ukraine crisis, threatens action after 'dead end'," France24, 13 January 2022.
"Russia has not received clear answer to its security proposals — envoy to OSCE," TASS, 13 January 2022.
"Polish OSCE chairmanship 2022 address by Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Zbigniew Rau at the OSC Permanent Council, Vienna," OSCE, 13 January 2022.
IN BRIEF
By Joeana Cera Matthews and Padmashree Anandhan
ITALY
Italian fashion icon Nino Cerruti dies at age of 91
On 16 January, Nino Cerruti who is known for his Italian fashion was reported to have passed away at the age of 91 while being treated for hip operation. He created his own fashion designs and his designs remained kept at his grandfather’s textile factory situated in the town of Biella in 1881. After excelling at his family textile mill, he then switched into clothing business in the late 1950’s, later went on to revolutionize the fashion industry. It is said that in the 1980’s he expanded his works to designing clothes for top Hollywood actors for big time film festivals. (“Nino Cerruti: Italian fashion great dies aged 91,” BBC, 16 January 2022)
THE UNITED KINGDOM
BBC to face fund shortage as culture secretary decides to freeze funds
On 16 January, In a recent news report by the Mail on Sunday, the Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries was reported to have decided on freezing the license-payer fees of BBC for two-years due to inflation rates exceeding five percent. The said decision will drastically impact BBC which will fall short of funds by EUR 2.4 billion and apart from this its competition with private funded channels such as Netflix will have a larger effect. According to the report, BBC has been in clash with the conservative government due to its left-wing bias. According to the Labour lawmaker and Culture Policy Chief Lucy Powell: “The prime minister and the culture secretary seem hell-bent on attacking this great British institution because they don't like its journalism.” (“UK to cut BBC funding by freezing license-payer fees,” Deutsche Welle, 16 January 2022)
UKRAINE
Ex-president of Ukraine to return despite treason charges
On 16 January, former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced his return to the country. Poroshenko, who is facing treason charges for supporting Russian-backed separatist fighters through illegal sale of coal, has now denied the accusations and has boldly said that he won't face detention. According to the critics, the return of the ex-president is seen only as a diversion to Russian invasion and the current administration is trying its best to keep away from the allegations against Poroshenko. (“Ukraine: Ex-leader Poroshenko to return amid treason charges,” Deutsche Welle, 16 January 2022)
REGIONAL
Peskov denies possibility of Russian invasion into Ukraine
On 16 January, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov appeared on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”. He was cited by POLITICO as saying: “I'm a spokesperson to Kremlin, and I officially can tell you that there are no Russian troops on Donbas and on Ukrainian soil.” He further added that the Kremlin was hopeful of future diplomatic efforts, as he said: “We have to find out a combination to solve this problem, taking into account concerns of Russia.” However, he was quick to state the differing views held by Moscow and NATO. He stated: “... in general, in principle, we can now say that we are staying on different tracks, on totally different tracks, and this is not good, and this is disturbing." Although he refused to put a clock on the possibility of action, Peskov mentioned: “... not going to say that we will not deploy any offensive weapons on Ukraine's territory." (Maeve Sheehey, “Russia and NATO 'on different tracks' in negotiations, Putin spokesperson says,” POLITICO, 16 January 2022)
ENERGY
Russia’s Novak states energy crisis to be the EU’s fault
On 15 January, TASS reported Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak accusing the EU of having created the region’s energy crisis. He was cited by POLITICO as saying: “the short-sighted policy of the European Union and the European Commission, which for many years has deliberately moved away from long-term contracts, shifted its energy sector toward reducing dependence on by switching from long-term contracts to spot ones." Novak added that Moscow had completed its long-term contracts with the bloc and could not be blamed for orchestrating the present energy crisis. He added: “We delivered much more to Germany, to Turkey, to other countries that chose their volumes… Incorrect planning, short-term energy policy is a headache for European politicians, which they are trying to pass on to others.” (Karl Mathiesen, “Russia says 'short-sighted' EU has only itself to blame for energy crisis,” POLITICO, 15 January 2022)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Ukraine: Russia blamed of massive cyberattack
On 16 January, following the massive cyberattack that hit the country, Ukraine's Digital Development Ministry released a statement that read: “All evidence points to the fact that Russia is behind the cyberattack. Moscow continues to wage a hybrid war and is actively building up its forces in the information and cyberspaces." The ministry also reassured the citizens of their personal data being unaffected and safe. The statement further read: “... not only intimidate society but also destabilize the situation in Ukraine by stopping the work of the public sector and undermining Ukrainians' trust in the government." (Zia Weise, “Ukraine blames Russia for cyberattack against government websites,” POLITICO, 16 January 2022)
Ukraine: Microsoft discovers disguised malware planted in Ukrainian government computers
On 15 January, Microsoft security specialists found disguised malware in many Ukrainian government computers capable of destroying data at the command of the hacker group. The detection comes after the recent cyber-attack of Ukrainian government sites of which Russia is suspected to be the culprit. As per Microsoft’s blog post: “The malware, which is designed to look like ransomware but lacking a ransom recovery mechanism, is intended to be destructive and designed to render targeted devices inoperable rather than to obtain a ransom.” (“Ukraine: Microsoft reports destructive malware after cyberattack,” Deutsche Welle, 16 January 2022)
INTERNATIONAL
US Senator comments on Putin’s agenda in Ukraine
On 16 January, US Senator Mitt Romney spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. During the course of the show he maintained that it was the responsibility of the West to limit Russian influence in the European region. He was cited by POLITICO as saying: “He's trying to reestablish what he had before. That can't be allowed to happen… [Putin]'s trying to take NATO apart — to weaken it. We need a strong NATO not just for Russia, but for the emergence of China.” Romney suggested the possibility of using the Nord Stream 2 as a negotiating tool to reason with Russia’s aggressive activities in the region. Romney said: “We should let him know that that Nord Stream 2 pipeline is not going to operate… He's not going to have that wealth if he does any action to overthrow the government in Ukraine — that's getting shut down.” (David Cohen, “Romney: Putin can't be allowed to rebuild the Soviet Union,” POLITICO, 16 January 2022)