Vlad Gheorghe: Austria opened the door to Russia at an OSCE meeting in Vienna. Ukraine will boycott. We must react

2023-02-16 | Political initiatives, Sanctions

Once again, Austria put the integrity and solidarity of the European Union under duress.

Late last year, its government did so by arbitrarily denying access to Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area.

Now, by inviting Russian deputies who are under EU sanctions and barred from entering the bloc, in order to participate in the meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The meeting in Vienna is set to be held on 23 and 24 February, exactly one year after the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

And the 15 Russian Duma members who have been granted visas are not on the EU sanction list by random chance.

They are among those bearing the brunt of responsibility for Russia’s brutal, unprovoked, and unjustified full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Yet today, Austria is ready to welcome them in Vienna, in an extremely embarrassing move for an EU member state.

Read the full op-ed on Euronews.