100 days of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in OSCE: world noticed new energy and peaceful 'spirit of Astana' - Russian expert
COW. April 23. KAZINFORM /Narymbek Ismagulov/ "Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE: 100 days of success" is the title of the article prepared by Yuri Solozobov, Director for International Projects of the Russian National Strategy Institute, following the analysis of the first achievements of Kazakhstan as OSCE Chair.
According to the expert, the first hundred days of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE ended at the time of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to the USA. The two presidents discussed in Washington the problems connected with the Afghan situation, Central Asia and the whole Eurasian continent in the context of Kazakhstan's chairmanship. US President Barack Obama supported Kazakhstan's long-term efforts on strengthening regional stability and security. In his turn, N. Nazarbayev invited his American counterpart to the historic summit of the OSCE planned to be held in Astana this November.
"That puts an end to the disputes whether Kazakhstan will succeed in implementation of its most ambitious foreign policy idea of the recent years -- to hold a summit of the European organization, which has not been held for a long time, in the young state in the heart of Eurasia", Y. Solozobov considers.
He says that to hold such a meeting the Kazakh diplomacy needed to get approval of all major states - founders of the Helsinki Process. Finally it was necessary to enlist the unequivocal support of the heirs of the two superpowers of the Cold War - Russia and the U.S. "I must admit there were enough skeptics both abroad and in Kazakhstan...", the political scientist notes.
However, he thinks the idea on holding a top level meeting in Astana gained more and more supporters since it has been suggested by President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was among the first to support the Kazakh leader. He wished Kazakhstan successful chairmanship and assured his Kazakh counterpart that the Russian side was ready to assist Kazakhstan in implementation of joint initiatives and tackle the most complicated issues together. At the sitting of the CIS Foreign Ministers' Council held on March 26 in Moscow all its participants also unanimously supported the initiative of Kazakhstan on holding the summit.
As Y. Solozobov considers, a bold foreign policy initiative of Kazakhstan arouses genuine interest not only in the East, but also in Western countries. "Kazakhstan as a recognized leader in the region is able to consolidate all Central Asian states and realize the ideals and principles of the OSCE. In this regard a number of European countries including France, Spain and others support the idea of Kazakhstan on holding the OSCE Summit", the expert says.
He calls the Kazakh President's initiative a timely and right decision. "It's not a secret that with assumption of the OSCE presidency by Kazakhstan many capitals of the world noticed a new energy and a peculiar peaceful 'spirit of Astana' in this 'seasoned' organization", the expert notes.