Kazakh FM and OSCE Sec Gen: Joint promotion of OSCE Astana Summit legacy important for organization's future

During the meeting, they discussed a wide range of issues on further development of bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and the OSCE, including current international issues and cooperation prospects in various joint projects.

Minister Idrissov noted that one of the important issues of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the OSCE was providing security and countering transnational threats. In this context, the potential challenges and threats emanating from Afghanistan remain extremely relevant for the countries of Central Asia and the entire international community. Certainly, the question of engagement with Afghanistan should remain on the agenda of the Organization, the Kazakh MFA's press service said.

"We believe that the OSCE, having considerable experience, jointly with the UN and other international organizations, could contribute to strengthening the effectiveness of border services of Central Asian countries and participate in the implementation of programs to support efforts in combating drugs in Afghanistan and neighboring countries," - said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Both sides reaffirmed that a joint promotion of the OSCE Astana Summit legacy was an important direction of work, which would be the main priority of Kazakhstan in its activities within the Organization in the coming years. As a stable and reliable partner in promoting peace and cooperation, Kazakhstan announced its candidacy for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, including the intention to achieve the creation of the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community - the strategic goal set forth in the Astana Declaration.

The parties also discussed the development of the political situation in the Ukraine. "We stand for peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine and its end through the negotiation process under the auspices of the UN and other international organizations", said the head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

As Zannier noted, against this background "we see the need to continue building a united and indivisible security community, which was discussed at the Astana summit of the organization".

During the meeting the issues of inter-religious and inter-ethnic tolerance, given the slow recovery of the world economy out of recession and the impact of adverse economic factors on the growth of intolerance and discrimination were discussed. The parties expressed their concern over the increased hostile speeches and hate crimes, xenophobia and Islamophobia in the OSCE region, and in the cyber space as well.

Another important item on the agenda of the talks was the functioning of the OSCE in Kazakhstan. Idrissov noted the need for a consistent and systematic work on the understanding of the status of the Organization and enhancing its effectiveness, the implementation of decisions and capacity building in all three dimensions of the security.

"Kazakhstan has made a significant progress in its economic development, the country has created mature political and civil institutions, has experience in all three dimensions of the security. We believe that it is time for adjustment of the interaction between Kazakhstan and the OSCE to the new realities and new collaborative arrangements. The year 2015 - the anniversary year for the OSCE will give us a good reason to evaluate our membership in the Organization within the "Helsinki 40" process. But even now I can tell that for Kazakhstan it was an impressive and valuable experience of cooperation on making an active contribution to the strengthening of peace and stability in the OSCE area" head of the Ministry resumed.

According to the OSCE Secretary General, activities of the organizations' office in Kazakhstan is being modernized and upgraded in the light of the country's needs, taking into consideration the long-term development strategy "Kazakhstan- 2050".