Russia urges OSCE to be objective towards national minorities
MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Interfax) - The Russia Foreign Ministry has urged the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to show objectivity in efforts to prevent ethnically motivated conflicts.
The appeal was made at a meeting held between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov and OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Astrid Thors on the sidelines of an OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Basel on December 5.
"Thors was urged to adhere in her work to the principles of objectivity and balance in accordance with the principal objective of her institute - early warning and prevention of ethnic conflicts," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website.
The Russian diplomat has also "drawn the High Commissioner's attention to problems such as non-citizenship, the rise in racism, intolerance and neo-Nazism in a number of European countries," the ministry said.