Sajn: OSCE Council sent an important message from Skopje – dialogue for world peace is still possible

From the 30th OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje, which brought together 70 delegations from 57 participating states and partner countries, including, although not at the same time, the US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister, a message has been sent that everyone can still hope for dialogue for world peace, according to long-time correspondent of Politika from Skopje, Zeljko Sajn.

"No matter how pessimistic we may be and look at it from the negative side, there is still one positive message from this meeting, and that is that all significant statesmen still came to Skopje," Sajn said for Kosovo Online, summing up the two-day high-level meeting in the capital of North Macedonia, at the end of the country's annual chairmanship of the OSCE.

According to him, the fact that all these significant statesmen did not meet does not necessarily mean that there is no perspective for peace.

He points out that by their mere presence, they have shown that they must sit at one table, negotiate, and agree on the future.

"We could not expect that to happen suddenly, all at once. The Russian Foreign Minister has not been invited to OSCE sessions for two years, and we could not expect that to happen now, to sit down with him and Secretary of State Blinken, because we know that these are two individuals, representatives of states, who are very responsible for peace in the world and based on whose actions at the moment we have an informal division between east and west. So, one of the basic messages that can be sent from here, from all foreign ministers, is that we can hope for a dialogue for peace in the world," Sajn said.

He also emphasizes that the meeting is very important for North Macedonia.

"For Macedonia, this event is very important because it has once again been shown that there are no big and small, but there are very significant, valuable ones that advocate for a certain situation," Sajn adds.

As he says, the country with two million inhabitants that has grown out of the disintegration of the SFRY has managed to show, as within the "Open Balkan," that one of the most significant situations is peace.

"It has been shown how this formula of 'Open Balkan' can be transferred to larger international organizations where discussions are held at full capacity, as it was today. And, in fact, small countries can be an example of how to do it and provide every person with basic rights and bring the rule of law back to its place, and politicians must take care and make conscientious and significant decisions for peace in the world. And that will echo from Skopje this time," Sajn said.

It is a unanimous opinion that in the OSCE, divisions have never been greater, and the blockade of certain decisions has almost called into question the future of that organization. Asked whether the participants in Skopje attended the beginning of the end or the recovery of the OSCE, Sajn says that they attended the revival of the organization.

"I don't believe we witnessed the destruction of an international organization; I think we witnessed more the revival of an organization that advocates for peace in the world and gives input on how things should be done," he emphasized.

As in any family, state, or change of system, there are flaws that need to be overcome, and so did the OSCE encounter such situations in Skopje.

"I think that happened in Skopje, with Blinken landing here, talking as a strategic partner with the Macedonians, and at the same time, Lavrov came, who did not have the right to talk as a strategic partner with Macedonia because it is part of NATO, but when you make a cross-section of their arrival, it means that dialogue towards peace can be expected, but that cannot happen overnight," Sajn concluded.