The annual session of the Regional Cooperation Forum descended into disarray on Tuesday when more than 30 delegations walked out of the plenary hall during a speech on a disputed river border, leaving rows of empty seats and the session without a quorum.
The walkout began minutes after the head of a neighboring country’s delegation accused two member states of moving border markers along the river during the summer. Delegates rose in small groups at first, then in whole blocks, as the chair tried to restore order from the podium.
A forum built on consensus
The forum, which brings together 48 delegations from across the region, works by consensus and rarely sees open confrontation. This year’s session was meant to approve a joint declaration on cross-border trade and river shipping, which officials had been negotiating for almost a year.
In twenty years of covering these meetings, I have never seen the hall empty this fast.
Ruth Adeyemi, regional affairs analyst at Elmbridge University
The country’s foreign minister, Viktor Lennart, stayed in his seat during the walkout and later told reporters that the delegation had chosen to remain “out of respect for the process.” He said the government in Riverton would continue to push for the trade declaration, which would cut waiting times for freight at several border crossings.
Leaving the room does not solve the dispute. Talking does.
Viktor Lennart, foreign minister
What happens to the declaration
Without a quorum, the chair suspended the session until Thursday. Diplomats said behind-the-scenes talks were already underway to find language on the river border that all sides could accept, possibly by moving the issue to a separate working group.
Opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly said the government should prepare for the declaration to fail. Progress Party foreign affairs spokesperson Hana Moretti called the scenes “a warning that the region’s institutions are weaker than we pretend.”
Shipping companies in Port Alden, which rely on the river route for a large share of their freight, said they were watching the talks closely. A delay in the declaration would keep current customs checks in place for at least another year.
The forum’s secretariat said all delegations had been invited back for Thursday’s session and that no member had formally announced it would leave the organization.
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