OSCE decision-making bodies hold special meeting following Romanain airspace violation by Russian drone

A special joint meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation and of the organization's Permanent Council is being held on Tuesday at the request of a group of member states from the Bucharest 9 and Nordic-Baltic 8 formats, following the violation of Romania's airspace in the early hours of May 29, the Foreign Ministry announced.The meeting, taking place in Vienna at OSCE headquarters, was requested by 14 participating states from the two regional groups to discuss the "particularly serious" incident involving a drone attributed to the Russian Federation that entered Romania's national airspace and struck a block of flats, injuring civilians and causing material damage."The aim is to use the OSCE - a regional forum dedicated to peace and security - as an opportunity for Romania to present the facts and draw the attention of all participating states to the gravity of the incident, and to underline that responsibility lies with the Russian Federation in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine. The initiative also seeks to prevent similar incidents," the Foreign Ministry said.Together with its OSCE partners, Romania will continue to support initiatives for an immediate ceasefire and for creating conditions for a comprehensive, just and lasting negotiated peace, the Ministry added.With 57 participating states, the OSCE is the largest regional security organization, created to maintain peace, security and stability in Europe through risk prevention, management and reduction. Its main decision-making bodies are the Permanent Council, which handles political issues, and the Forum for Security Co-operation, responsible for political and military matters. Joint meetings of the two bodies are convened only in extraordinary circumstances marked by heightened regional tensions or serious security concerns.The most recent joint meeting took place on May 26 at Ukraine's request, following Russia's May 23 - 24 large-scale attack on Ukraine, which included the use of an Oreshnik ballistic missile.Tuesday's meeting was requested by states from the Bucharest 9 and Nordic-Baltic 8 formats, which gathered in Bucharest at the highest level on May 13 to prepare for the NATO Summit in Ankara and discuss Russia's aggression against Ukraine and ways to strengthen deterrence and defence on the eastern flank.