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US State Secretary accuses Russia of blocking OSCE meeting in Poland

“Yesterday, the premier human rights conference of the Europe-Eurasia region should have opened in Warsaw, Poland. Unfortunately… the meeting did not convene due to a decision by the Russian government to block it,” Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. He assessed the Kremlin’s actions as “an attempt by the Russian government to block scrutiny of its worsening human rights record.”

On September 27, Poland was to host the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM). The conference was to be held in Warsaw.

“For decades, yearly HDIM reviews of the records of all participating States – the United States included – have been a hallmark of the OSCE, bringing to the table representatives of governments and civil society organisations from across the region. The United States still expects the OSCE and its participating States to hold the mandated annual HDIM meetings,” Mr Blinken wrote.

“We will continue to urge Russia to live up to its commitments, which include guaranteeing the protection of fundamental freedoms and allowing citizens to hold their governments accountable, including through free and fair elections,” he continued, stressing that “the United States will not ignore human rights violations.”

He also referred to the matter on social media.

Russia continues to obstruct the 2021 @OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. We call on Russia to respect civil society, independent media, rule of law, and free and fair elections. #HDIM

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 29, 2021

The full statement can be read here..

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