Neutral Malta to chair OSCE after Moscow blocks NATO member Estonia

VIENNA (Reuters) – The 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe agreed on Monday that Malta should take over the organization’s rotating chairmanship after Russia barred Estonia from the job, officials said.

OSCE countries’ foreign ministers meet on Thursday and Friday in the North Macedonian capital of Skopje to discuss the chair role and renewing four senior OSCE officials in their posts at the Vienna-based organisation.

“Breaking news from Vienna! Huge decisions opening the path towards consensus on #OSCE2024 chair to be confirmed on #MC30 in #Skopje. Thank you #Malta for your willingness to take on this vital role,” North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. His country currently holds the chairmanship.

Western countries often describe OSCE as a key forum for former Cold War foes the United States and Russia to engage. Other members include Canada, Central Asian states, the entire European Union, Britain, Ukraine and Belarus.

In recent years and increasingly since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has made use of what is effectively a veto since the OSCE takes decisions by consensus, meaning one country can block that consensus.

Moscow had for months objected to NATO member Estonia taking over the annually rotating chairmanship as was originally planned, prompting a scramble for an alternative. Small, neutral European Union member state Malta was acceptable to all sides.

The deal “brings with it the guarantee of another year of functionality and a legitimate chair,” one senior Western diplomat said.

Russia and staunch ally Belarus have still not backed the renewal of four senior OSCE officials in their posts, including veteran German diplomat Helga Schmid as OSCE secretary-general, diplomats said. The four mandates expire on Dec. 4, and no alternatives to the four officials have been put forward.

“We do care about the top four but the chair is existential – the organization cannot operate without it,” the Western diplomat said.

To some extent, the deadlock at the OSCE mirrors the wider confrontation between Moscow and Washington and their allies since the war began.

Only Belarus regularly sides with Moscow at the OSCE.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)