During Thursday’s meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, it was very hot when I gave the floor to the Russian representative for two minutes.
When Russia’s Vladimir Dashaparov began to speak, large numbers of the audience got up and left.
– By the way, we are very glad that the neo-Nazis are leaving the hall. People walked out of the meeting, according to Huxrod, who was helped with the Russian-to-Norwegian translation, thank you for clearing the air, Djabarov said.
Among those leaving the hall was the representative of the Norwegian Parliament, Bård Hoksrud, who is one of the members of the Norwegian delegation.
– I don’t know Russian, but I recognized the word Nazi. It’s not something you hear often, Hoksrud tells NRK.
In an OSCE livestream on Facebook, Hoksrud can be seen leaving the auditorium:
Bård Hoksrud is part of the Norwegian delegation to the OSCE meeting in Vienna. Here he leaves the room when the Russian representative spoke during Thursday’s meeting.
Image: screenshot
On Friday it happened again. During the OSCE general meeting, several delegations left the meeting again, Hoxrod reported in an SMS to NRK at 11.14am.
Keep your distance
When the Belarusian and Russian delegates received the floor, large parts of the auditorium opted out of the building.
– Then quite a few parliamentarians chose to leave, including Norway. You see, quite a few people chose to leave the hall, says Hoksrud, who snapped photos on the way out.
The photo shows several blank heads and representatives leaving the OSCE meeting in Vienna as Belarus and Russia speak on Friday.
Photo: Bård Hoksrud
– It is based on Russia’s understanding of reality, and today is the first anniversary of the attack.
He does not know how the representatives of Russia and Belarus reacted to the fact that several people left the hall on Friday.
– Today we do not know what they said, because of course we left the meeting. But they probably kept it more or less the same as yesterday, Huxrod thought.
Anger and frustration
During NRK’s talks with Hoksrud, he and the other delegations stand outside the building and wait for Russia and Belarus to finish their speech.
– How is the weather now?
There is a lot of anger and frustration among many delegates. Most of the speakers are clear in their condemnation of Russia and the violations that are taking place.
Ukraine intersection
Ukraine has already announced that it will boycott the meeting. They do not want to be in the same room with the Russian delegation.
Austria, as the host country, did not want to ban the Russian delegation, although a number of the 57 member states demanded that they be denied visas, according to the NTB.
Hoxrod met the Ukrainian delegation outside the meeting venue on Friday.
– It was a powerful meeting. There were discussions about the way forward, and they were very grateful for the contributions Norway has made so far. They cannot say it enough how satisfied they are with Norway’s support, says Hoxrod.
Bård Hoksrud and Parliamentary Representative Alexander Stockbo (H) at the OSCE meeting in Vienna.
Photo: Bård Hoksrud
Friday also marks a year since Russia began its war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine.
– It’s the first time in 17 years as a parliamentary representative I’ve done this, at any rate in an international delegation, says Hoxrod.
Seif Musleth of the Center Party heads the Norwegian delegation. In addition to Hoksrud from the FRP, Aleksander Stokkebø and Jan Tore Sanner from the Conservative Party.
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