Russia did not get a seat on the OPCW executive council for 2025-2027

Russia did not get a seat in the executive board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for 2025-2027. The results of the vote were announced on November 26 at the 29th Conference of States Parties to the organization in The Hague, which was broadcast on the OPCW website.

The two seats on the body from the Eastern European group were claimed by Russia (received 56 votes), the Czech Republic (128 votes) and North Macedonia (86 votes).

Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands and its Permanent Representative to the OPCW, called the situation around participation in the executive council "a clear confirmation of the crisis into which the organization is sliding."

He noted that the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are being distorted, in particular, in the issue of forming a balanced composition of the body, taking into account the importance of the chemical industry of the states in the region. According to the diplomat, attempts to prevent certain countries from participating in the work of the Council for political reasons demonstrate the desire of some states to take the work of the OPCW under tight control.

The OPCW Executive Council consists of 41 states, which are elected every two years. Russia lost its seat on the body in November 2023. Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were included from the Eastern European group.

Commenting on these results, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OPCW Azar Dzhioev noted that the accession to the executive council of states that have an extremely negative attitude toward Russia is of serious concern. In March 2024, Tarabrin pointed to the transformation of the OPCW into a platform for advancing the geopolitical objectives of Western countries.