The Decline of the OSCE and the UN
It's only my personal opinion. But I know enough people who think just the same.
The UN - what is it? If you had asked this question about a year ago, just everybody would have told you: it is an important international organization, protecting peace and international law. Now everything has changed. Now I, for one, do not think so. Now I think that the UN and the OSCE are clubs with several coalitions which protect their own interests and profits. Their credibility is shrinking by the day. How could it happen?
It's a very complex question. Throughout the Ukrainian crisis these organizations would lend support to one side of the conflict only. And it looked strange. Maybe they were right? Maybe there was something we didn’t know? Okay, I'm ready to imagine it. But later... absolutely unmistakable, unequivocal facts emerged. Terrible facts! And all of them were ignored by the international organizations! When that happened I was stunned! How can it be in a modern “democratic” and “civilized” world, it defies belief! Now, when the shock is over, I feel that I can't trust these international clubs anymore. They refuse to see the obvious, so what is the reason to take them seriously?
It's the greatest disappointment since Belgrade (Yugoslavia) was bombed. In those days a lot of us lost faith in international organizations. Completely. And it took us more than a decade to revive it. Now it is crushed again.
I said it's only my opinion, right? Not so simple! I believe I express the general opinion already prevalent or gaining momentum as we speak. Let's look at some facts.
A few weeks ago the G8 was disbanded. 7 states left the organization. De facto it no longer exists. A year ago most of the Russians would’ve exclaimed: It's bad news! Extremely bad news! Now they say: Pff... Who cares! Good riddance! This “club” was a total waste of time and money anyway!
Then the State Duma (Russian parliament) decided that 10 countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States should establish an equivalent of the International Criminal Court. Among the reasons cited was the fact that there were no organizations in the world, transparent and independent enough, to conduct unbiased investigations.
The political majority in the State Duma believes that neither the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), nor the International Criminal Court in the Hague can conduct an objective investigation and provide an independent assessment of the tragic events that occurred in Ukraine – in Odessa, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, etc. These are very important signs! Critical signs! And despite my naming only two of them, there are many more! We are one step away from the red line. The next step - and we will lose faith and respect for the majority of international organizations. We clearly see that international law is an illusion, if not a sham, because it’s regularly bent to suit the needs of the western powerhouse and above all the United States and its allies. Finally when such organizations ignore facts and indisputable evidence of atrocious crimes, we feel that we have to ignore these organizations.
That's the wrong way to go! One more step - and we'll become incommunicative, we'll become deaf.
Who needs another Cold War? Is there anyone who thinks that it's good? Not me. And frankly I don't know any people who could say that it's fine. None of us wants it. But at the same time we cannot ignore the abundant evidence of horrendous crimes and human rights violations because it concerns things that are very close and important to us. It's all about the life and death of our friends and distant family members. It's not a joke or a figure of speech. A great number of our people have relatives in Ukraine. And a lot of Ukrainians live and work in Russia on a permanent basis, have their homes and businesses here. Now we have to choose between international sanctions and our brothers. I think you know our choice. I hope you never have to make such a choice, but if you do – yours is sure to be the same as ours.
Brotherhood – this is a reason enough to ignore any sanctions or other forms of punishment, particularly knowing for a fact that a multitude of errors committed by international organizations when analyzing the situation in Ukraine tarnishes and discredits their reputation.
Now I say: UN, wake up! OSCE, wake up! You were created to uphold peace and law - not to protect the interests of particular countries and business groups! You need to open your eyes and be objective! These hideous crimes that you choose to disregard now may dramatically change the world and set us on a path of permanent confrontation for many years to come, or lead to even more tragic consequences! But we still have a chance. Let's not waste it!
J.V.