Austria May Step In to Chair the OSCE According to the Media

OrganizationsInternational Organizations ♦ Published: April 24, 2023; 20:53 ♦ (Vindobona)

Russia has been opposing Estonia's leadership of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2024 for months. Citing diplomatic circles, it was reported that the Austrian Foreign Ministry (BMEIA) was considering stepping in for the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Vienna.

Currently, North Macedonia heads the Vienna-based OSCE, but the country's successor is now uncertain. / Picture: © Vindobona.org

Time is running out. The 57 states of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) should have already agreed at last December's ministerial meeting on which country should take over the chairmanship from January 1, 2024.

While Estonia applied for the OSCE Chairmanship in 2024, a planned agreement failed at the OSCE Ministerial Council in…