State Commission on Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship holds its II session in Astana

Welcoming the participants Secretary of State-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev reminded the President's words that "chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE is a strategic national project which is of paramount importance for further development of Kazakh statehood".

The Secretary of State also said that those heated debates held within the XVII Conference of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Athens on December 1-2, 2009 proved that Kazakhstan's chairmanship would face uneasy tasks.

"The majority of the problems set to the OSCE have long-term and complicated character. We are expected to give a fresh impetus to the development of the Organization itself. Even today we lay necessary foundation for further evolutional development of this unique institution", K. Saudabayev noted.

In the course of the sitting K. Saudabayev summed up the results of two-month work and acquainted the participants with the results of the first round of consultations within the OSCE Troika with the European Union, and several meetings with the leaders of the EU, the European Commission, colleagues from Russia and the U.S.A.

The participants also heard reports of the heads of working groups, namely Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maulen Ashimbayev, Minister of Culture and Information Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed, Minister of Transport and Communications Abelgazy Kussainov and Vice Minister of Defense Bulat Sembinov. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nurtay Abykayev also made a report regarding preparation for an informal summit of the Council of Foreign Ministers and the OSCE Summit.

Following the session there was adopted a protocol defining the certain tasks for all involved state bodies.