We offer our own full support to North Macedonia as incoming Seat. We are under no illusions. Their task will also be a challenging one, but we are fully committed in our support. We stand by Ukraine. We all stand by the OSCE. And stand by the foundations plus values of the European security architecture. That is why we are right here. Yesterday Russia spoke regarding confrontation. Ironic for a nation which has invaded Georgia in 2008, illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and then launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 Feb this year. In parallel, Russian federation has vainly tried to anger and disrupt the work from the OSCE. We have shown once more in Łódź – that no one is fooled. We will uphold the rules because they are the building blocks of the security of every Condition in this room. As we stand united with Ukraine, we should not forget the state of human rights within the Russian Federation and Belarus. Internal clampdown, dominance and external aggression are usually two sides of the exact same coin – when a State places a stranglehold on the freedoms of its own individuals – it sets the particular conditions for, and enables, aggression abroad. Mr Chair, we should thank our precursors for understanding that human legal rights and fundamental freedoms sit down at the core of our collective security. They were right. Our work – day in plus day out – is to continue to defend and advance these crucial rights and freedoms. Russia’s unprovoked plus barbaric invasion of Ukraine – supported by the Belarusian regime – has attemptedto break the foundations of European security. Russia has violated the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act’s core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-use of force. As the majority of OSCE States possess expressed here in Łódź – these principles matter, this organisation matters and we will endure defend both. The OSCE and the European security architecture are worth fighting pertaining to. Thank you Mr Chair, for you and your talented, committed group. And for your hospitality here in Łódź. In this testing calendar year, we are grateful for your excellent leadership and that of the Secretary General, the institutions as well as the hard working OSCE staff. You have all stood on with this institution. You have every stood up for the ideals and principles we have openly signed up to. And you have deservingly realised that those who violate those principles and commitments should not be able to hide at the rear of consensus or rules of procedures. As my Foreign Admin said – if the OSCE was irrelevant or ineffectual it would not have been therefore systematically attacked by Russian federation. Russia forcibly ended the particular mandates of the Border Statement Mission, the Special Monitoring Mission, and the Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. This unilateral and destructive behaviour was created to blunt the tools from the organisation. But , Mr Chair, we have united under your management. We have innovated. And we have got ensured the OSCE’s tool set – designed to make all of us safer and more secure – has remained both appropriate and effective. By using the OSCE’s military transparency measures, we all exposed Russian and Belarussian lies, false promises plus ill-intent towards their sovereign neighbour. We deployed the particular Moscow Mechanism to glow a spotlight on the atrocities committed by Russian causes in Ukraine and to support accountability. We are proud to contribute to the OSCE’s Support Programme for Ukraine – an innovation which demonstrates the OSCE will not be held to ransom.
