Moscow [Russia], October 8 : Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed accusations by Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen that Moscow violated the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, calling them a "blatant lie", while accusing Western nations of decades of violations of the accord, RT reported.
The Helsinki Final Act, signed in 1975 by 35 countries, laid out ten guiding principles for international relations, including sovereign equality, non-intervention, territorial integrity, peaceful dispute resolution, and respect for human rights. It continues to serve as a foundational document for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In a Telegram post on Tuesday, Zakharova accused Western members of the OSCE of repeatedly breaching the accord's core principles, citing multiple historical incidents as evidence, RT reported.
She pointed to the 1974 Greek intervention in Cyprus, NATO's 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia without UN approval, and the 2008 Western recognition of Kosovo's independence as examples of violations of sovereignty and the principle of non-use of force.
According to RT, Zakharova also referred to Germany's recognition of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991, arguing that it undermined the principle of territorial integrity by encouraging the breakup of Yugoslavia. She cited Croatia's 1995 Operation Storm as a breach of the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes.
She further claimed that the West's support for the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine violated the principle of non-intervention, as it involved backing a movement that led to a change of government.
Zakharova also listed additional cases, including the existence of CIA secret prisons in Lithuania, Poland, and Romania during the 2000s, which she said violated the principle of respect for human rights. France's refusal to recognize Corsican national identity, she argued, breached the right of peoples to self-determination.
RT reported that Zakharova also accused the United Kingdom of continuing its "occupation" of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean despite UN rulings, describing it as a clear violation of international law.
In her remarks, Zakharova also questioned Valtonen's qualifications, pointing out her background in finance and event management rather than diplomacy. She said this reflected a broader pattern within the European Union of appointing officials lacking foreign policy experience.
Zakharova added that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's training as a "gynaecologist" symbolised the EU's leadership deficit in diplomacy.
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