The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) has justified the recognition of the private military company (PMC) "Wagner" as a terrorist organization by national authorities, according to the Vancouver Declaration adopted at the 30th annual session of the assembly, rbc news has reported.
"The actions of the Wagner group on behalf of the Russian Federation government can be rightly characterized as terrorist in nature and intentions, thus justifying the designation of the Wagner group as a terrorist organization by national authorities," the declaration states.
The assembly has called on OSCE member states to recognize "Wagner" as a terrorist organization and take measures against it and its affiliated individuals, to eliminate the presence of the PMC "wherever it operates," and to strengthen international norms in order to "recognize the terrorist nature of the group," its actions, and hold Russia accountable as a sponsor of the PMC.
The document also states that the OSCE PA "strongly condemns" the government of Belarus for supporting "Wagner." The assembly believes that the presence of the company on Belarusian territory has "endangered the entire Baltic region."
The forces of the PMC were relocated to Belarus after the uprising in Russia on June 23-24, which was halted with the mediation of the country's leader, Alexander Lukashenko.
There are 57 countries that are members of the OSCE, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Ukraine, and others.
So far, Lithuania (also an OSCE member) has been the only country to recognize "Wagner" as a terrorist organization. In Canada and France, the parliaments of the respective countries have called on their governments to take similar actions. According to The Times, the United Kingdom is also expected to do the same soon. Although the United States had considered the possibility of recognizing "Wagner" as a terrorist organization, it ultimately defined it as a transnational criminal organization. Sanctions have been imposed in the West against the group and its associated companies.
The founder of the PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that now "Wagner" and the Americans are "colleagues."
"Our relationship can now be called a 'showdown of criminal clans'," he said.
Regarding the recognition of the PMC as terrorist, Prigozhin argued that it does not meet the criteria of such an organization.
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