OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting opens in Vienna

The two-day meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly kicked off in Vienna on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, amid heavy criticism of Moscow’s war and a boycott of the Ukrainian delegation.
Austria issued visas to several Russian delegates to attend the meeting, despite pleas from dozens of countries to keep them out of the OSCE. The Vienna decision drew widespread criticism, including from senior US lawmakers.
Ukraine and Lithuania are boycotting a meeting of representatives of the pan-European security body, which includes 57 countries. The meeting began a day before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , which led to the bloodiest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II.
State Duma deputies from Russia came for the first time to the European Union in an official capacity after being sanctioned for supporting the war and, in particular, for supporting the annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk , Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia.