Foreign Ministers from across Europe, the US and Russia are gathering at Ta' Qali for the 31st Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Malta is hosting the conference in its capacity of chair of the council

It is the biggest-ever international conference of ministers to take place in Malta.

Set against a backdrop of global instability as Europe faces a war on its doorstep, Russia’s war with Ukraine is likely to be high on the agenda. The conference is also expected to officially confirm a senior leadership package for the OSCE.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg in comments before welcoming the ministers outside the conference venue, told the media that the OSCE was an important mechanism for the promotion of peace, security and freedom in Europe and beyond.

"We hope that these two conference days will give the OSCE the leadership and tools it needs, not least because of the war in Europe itself."

Asked after the presence at the conference of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Borg pointed out that he and others had met the minister and other Russian Federation officials at the UN Security Council and other fora and never lost an opportunity to strongly condemn the Russian invasion of sovereign Ukraine.

"This should be another occasion for other ministers to do the same and to look forward to the restoration of peace," Borg said.

While ostensibly focused on European matters, the organisation has evolved into a global forum covering a range of topics including international arms control, counter-terrorism and media freedom, among others.

It counts 57 countries as members across Europe, Central Asia and North America who meet regularly to discuss pan-European issues.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg welcoming Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha to the conference.

But shadows have been cast over OSCE talks in recent years following heightened tensions with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

However, with this week’s conference seeing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken both in attendance, the council remains one of the few occasions world leaders at odds on geopolitical issues can meet. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha is also in Malta.

It will be Lavrov’s first trip to a European country since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, and his appearance in Malta is already provoking controversy: on Tuesday Poland objected to Lavrov attending the meeting and Lithuania yesterday announced it was downgrading its presence in protest alongside Estonia.

And on Wednesday Malta revoked a visa granted to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, saying three EU member states refused to agree to exempt her from a travel ban.

News of the decision was first revealed by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which said Malta informed Zakharova that it was revoking her visa due to “circumstances outside our control”. It described the decision as “unprecedented”.

Unlike Lavrov, who is not subject to any sanctions, Zakharova is cited on sanctions lists and is subject to an EU travel ban.

A Malta Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta that Zakharova therefore needed a special exemption which was “subject to the consideration of EU member states” to be granted permission to enter Malta, which is part of the EU’s Schengen zone. 

Three countries raised objections to Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry said, “just as Russia last year objected to a particular country assuming the OSCE chairmanship”.

The ministry did not cite the three countries which objected to Zakharova flying to Malta, but sources told Times of Malta that they were Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Estonia was due to assume the chairmanship of the OSCE last year but was frozen out of that role by Russia. 

The OSCE meeting will run until tomorrow, with hundreds of delegates and journalists from around the world expected to cover the event.

With Malta currently chairing the OSCE, this year’s ministerial council will be led by Foreign Minister Ian Borg. In comments to Times of Malta, the minister emphasised the event’s historic importance.

“We were entrusted with this responsibility at a critical juncture, with one of its participating states waging a war of aggression against another, marking one of the most serious threats to regional security since the Second World War,” he said, noting that it was a “significant achievement” for Malta to have steered the OSCE over the past year. 

Formed in 1970 as tensions with the former Soviet Union began to ease, the OSCE, originally the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, was set up as a multilateral forum between East and West.

The organisation changed its name to the OSCE in 1994 and continues to be seen as an important forum in international diplomacy while remaining the world’s largest regional security organisation.

British foreign secretary David Lammy (second right) at a meeting with the Maltese delegation on Wednesdat night.

With the OSCE ministerial council – comprised of foreign ministers from member states – as the organisation’s top decision-making body, this week’s meeting is a vital opportunity to discuss high-level topics including security challenges and other issues.

Earlier this week, the organisation’s Permanent Council in Vienna unanimously recommended foreign ministers formally approve a new senior leadership package, reportedly agreed after intense Malta-led negotiations.

Should the package be formally approved, the OSCE is expected to announce Feridun Sinirlioğlu from Türkiye as Secretary General and Maria Telalian of Greece as Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Christophe Kamp of Netherlands is expected to be announced High Commissioner on National Minorities and Norwegian Jan Braathu Representative on Freedom of the Media, according to the Security and Human Rights Monitor.

An earlier leadership proposal from Malta was not accepted following pressure from Greece and Türkiye to include candidates from their respective countries, the monitor said.