The 28th annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) continues its work in Luxembourg. On Sunday, July 6, the OSCE PA Political and Security Committee adopted two similar resolutions, in which Russia is accused of allegedly occupying territories and building up its military presence.

However, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Dmitry Novikov, in a conversation with RT, explained that such documents are primarily declarative in nature and are accepted to demonstrate a certain political position.

“They have no legal value. But they are important for the formation of a common political climate around Russia in Europe. This will enable individual parliamentarians at the national level to refer to these resolutions, ”Novikov said.

Georgian resolution

One of the documents is devoted to the “state of affairs in the field of security and human rights” in Abkhazia and the Tskhinval / South Ossetia region. The author of the resolution was the Georgian parliamentarian Sofia Katsarava, who characterized these republics as “occupied territories of Georgia”.

As follows from the text of the document, Tbilisi expresses serious concern that it cannot control “its own” territories in connection with “their illegal occupation of the Russian Federation and its steps towards the actual annexation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“The Parliamentary Assembly urges the Russian Federation to comply with the fundamental norms and principles of international law and to repeal its unlawful decision recognizing the so-called independence of the occupied territories of Georgia,” reads the text of the resolution.

In addition, Moscow is responsible for the alleged “gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms”, discrimination based on ethnicity and escalating military presence in the republics. Such actions are condemned by the OSCE PA.

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Commenting on this resolution, a member of the Russian delegation, first deputy chairman of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, recalled that Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia "based on the free will of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian peoples, guided by the provisions of the UN Charter."

At the same time, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, Head of the Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty, Andrei Klimov, in an interview with RT, expressed the opinion that if Georgia wants to settle relations, it should enter into a normal dialogue on finding ways out of the situation, and not “run with scandalous statements "on organizations like the OSCE.

“There are a huge number of politicians in Georgia who, instead of thinking about how to find a political-diplomatic way out, are trying to shift responsibility onto us with the help of aggressive rhetoric and obvious provocations. They play up to the Russophobic circles, acting in the interests of Washington. The OSCE in this case is used as a platform for this kind of antics. They want this fire to smolder, and better flared up, so this topic is presented there for no reason at all, ”Klimov said.

According to him, Russia as a sovereign state had all the necessary rights to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“I can say that everything was done correctly on our part. Obviously, this is an attempt to continue the June conflict, which arose through no fault of Russia in Tbilisi, ”the parliamentarian explained.

Ukrainian resolution

The second OSCE document adopted by the OSCE concerns the Crimea. The document says "about full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." In this regard, Russia is invited to “ensure the de-occupation of the autonomous republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”.

In addition, the Russian Federation should stop the "militarization" of the peninsula and the Sea of ​​Azov, as well as provide necessary assistance to Ukrainian sailors arrested after the incident in the Kerch Strait, which occurred on November 25, 2018.

The Russian side also has a call relating to the conflict in the Donbas. Moscow is demanded to make efforts to resolve the conflict in the south-east of Ukraine on the basis of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Note that the Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that the Russian Federation is not a party to the conflict in the Donbas.

In addition, the resolution included a thesis that imposes responsibility on Russia for suspending the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF). Moreover, the Committee on Political Affairs and Security rejected the amendment of the delegation of the Russian Federation, which proposed to soften the anti-Russian language.

As the head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee Leonid Slutsky noted during the debate, the text of the document is saturated with “obviously unacceptable formulations, including anti-Russian ones,” which do not correspond to reality.

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According to the deputy of the Crimean State Council Vladislav Ganzhara, such resolutions only "widen the gap" between Russia and international institutions like the OSCE PA.

“No matter what resolutions are adopted, Crimea is and will be part of the Russian Federation,” said the parliamentarian in an interview with RT, adding that more and more European politicians speak of Crimea as being the territory of Russia.

“A huge number of politicians and public figures today openly talk about the need to recognize that Crimea is Russia, but various official institutions continue to hold their own, denying that the peninsula belongs to Russia,” the deputy added.

"Nuremberg inside out"

Add that to the discussion of European parliamentarians were made several more resolutions related to Russia. For example, the delegations of the United States, Lithuania, Sweden and Georgia included in the final version of the resolution of the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues of the OSCE PA an amendment that condemns the "politically motivated abuses" of the Interpol databases and mechanisms by Moscow.

At the same time, the OSCE PA Political and Security Committee supported the document against the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines. The authors of the amendment from the United States, Canada and Lithuania declare that these projects can be used as a means of “political or economic coercion of organizations dependent on the supplies of participating States”.

“The benefits of discussions within the OSCE PA are actually reduced to zero. There is no sense in adopting a resolution on Nord Stream 2. We just found out once again what the point of view of NATO is. This is not a surprise for us, the Parliamentary Assembly is discredited, and once again the opportunity to find some solutions that would be in the interests of the whole of Europe, and not a single group of states, was missed, ”said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Council of Foreign Affairs Committee.

Meanwhile, the same committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly rejected the Russian resolution “On combating xenophobia, aggressive nationalism and related intolerance,” authored by State Duma deputy Artem Turov. It proposed to condemn and counter attempts to glorify and spread any form of racism, aggressive nationalism, extremism and neo-Nazism.

“Actually, what is happening today in the OSCE PA reminds us of some kind of surreal cinema, Nuremberg inside out. The same was observed in Europe in the years 1938-39, when fascist Germany rose and strengthened against the background of the tacit consent of its neighbors. This is a very dangerous trend, ”said Peter Tolstoy, head of the Russian delegation.

According to the deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, Yury Shvytkin, in some European countries, Russophobia in some areas still prevails over common sense.

“In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, unfortunately, the negative attitude towards our country continues. The rejection of the Russian resolution indicates the double standards of European countries. Of course, they have developed an understanding of the democracy they are promoting. Today, it is Russia that is an example of upholding European values, ”the source explained to RT.

In turn, Leonid Slutsky called on the chairman of the PACE, Lilian Mori-Paskier, to influence the current situation, which increases the divergence of approaches on the key issues of the OSCE itself and the parliamentary assembly of this organization.

“It is necessary to strengthen cooperation between the institutions of the organization, so that its members believe the eight reports of the Mixed Monitoring Mission, which tell the truth that in the south-east of Ukraine there have never been heavy weapons from Russia, and the whole problem is that Unfortunately, it is violated precisely and only from the side of Kiev, ”the parliamentarian stressed.

He added that now Moscow is being accused literally “of everything and everywhere,” and despite this, the Russian side is ready and aims to cooperate with European institutions. Although the rejection of the OSCE PA resolution on the inadmissibility of the glorification of Nazism and other actions of the Assembly raises the most serious issues.