OSCE Recognises Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has adopted a declaration recognising Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and the Wagner PMC as a terrorist organisation.

This is stated in the Final Declaration of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

For the first time in its history, the OSCE has recognised the direct involvement of the Russian government in financing the private military company PMC Wagner. This decision was based on a public statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that the Wagner Group was "fully funded" by the Russian state.

"The Wagner Group has received over 86 billion Russian rubles, or over USD 1 billion, from the state budget in one year, which clearly makes the Russian state responsible for the actions of the Wagner Group abroad," the declaration says.

At the same time, the document emphasises that the actions of the Wagner PMC can be fairly characterised as terrorist in nature and intent. Therefore, the actions of the Wagner PMC are "fairly characterised" as terrorist. And the qualification of the military group itself as a terrorist organisation is justified.

The document also emphasises that terrorism is one of the greatest threats to international peace and security.

The OSCE member states pledged to take measures against the Wagner PMC and its "affiliated structures" and "successor structures".

"The Parliamentary Assembly calls on OSCE participating States to make full use of all domestic and international instruments, including those established to combat terrorism, to disrupt the malign presence of the Wagner Group wherever it operates and to ensure that all those responsible for their crimes are brought to justice," the document says.

A separate section of the declaration was devoted to condemning Russia's war in Ukraine and bringing the Russian side to justice for war crimes committed on the territory of the Ukrainian state. The OSCE demanded that Russia "immediately and unconditionally" cease its aggression and withdraw all troops from the territory of sovereign Ukraine.

So far, the European Parliament, the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe and NATO, and a number of European countries have decided to recognise Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Among them are Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, as well as the European Parliament, the EU Parliamentary Assembly and NATO.