Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted to suspend Moscow’s participation in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) parliamentary assembly, branding it anti-Russian and discriminatory.
Both chambers of Russia’s rubber-stamp parliament — the State Duma and Federation Council — voted unanimously to cease participation in the body during sessions on Wednesday.
The Federation Council, the upper chamber of parliament, accused the assembly of “biased, discriminatory approaches, double standards, total Russophobia, unpreparedness for meaningful discussions, including on relevant issues of ensuring equal and indivisible security.”
The OSCE’s parliamentary assembly is not a decision-making body, but is intended to facilitate dialogue between its members’ legislatures.
Founded in 1975 to foster relations between the Western and Eastern blocs, the OSCE has 57 members including both Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine has called for Russia to be expelled.