Summit in Astana to give new impulse to OSCE activity - Head of OSCE center in Astana A. Kelchevsky

Head of the OSCE Center in Astana Alexander Kelchevsky informed of the prospects of development of the Organization including the contribution Kazakhstan can make to its activity.

In his article Fate and Prospects of the OSCE President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev noted that "The OSCE has long ago turned from a continental European organization into the organization which acquired a transcontinental character due to its zone of responsibility and certain work cluster". Do you agree with such a statement? What practical conclusions could be drawn from this?

Indeed, I can say that the OSCE was changed from the continental European organization into the organization which acquired a transcontinental character. It should benoted that the OSCE, strictly speaking, has initially been a transcontinental organization as far as Canada and USA enter the Organization.

Actually, the influence of the OSCE during its existence has constantly grown and continues to grow. In some way the Organization has become a platform for a dialogue which is also used by other non-OSCE countries and other regional organizations. At the moment, 12 countries representing Asia and Mediterranean World are the OSCE cooperation partners.

The summit on interaction and confidence-building measures in Asia initiated by your President is also the example of the OSCE influence. The activity of the CICA is based on the same principles as the OSCE ones.

Therefore the main conclusion to be drawn is the following: the Helsinki process which started 35 years ago is successfully going on.

In your opinion, what priorities of Kazakhstan's chairmanship are the most important ones at present?

Your country also announced its adherence to the fundamental principles and values of the OSCE as well as support to all its institutions and readiness to provide steady advancement of all OSCE dimensions: political-military, economic-ecological and the human ones.

I think the most important one is the proposal to hold the OSCE summit this year where the issues of future architecture of the European presiding country of the OSCE - Greece.

How do you estimate development of the transport-communicational potential of the Organization as one of the priorities for Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE?

The given initiative which was approved by all OSCE member-states is a bright example of the fact how the chairmanship of Kazakhstan can make its contribution to the work of the OSCE.

The matter is that the issues of transport and transit in the countries of Western Europe have been already solved whereas they remain unsolved in the eastern part of the OSCE space. In such a manner, we hope that the experience of the EU countries will be useful for Eastern European countries. It is impossible to imagine successful economic development and cooperation among the countries of this region without solution of the problems of transport infrastructure and transit.

In his article the President of Kazakhstan noted that the OSCE Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Conference scheduled for 2010 could play a great role in promotion of Kazakhstan's experience in preserving of interethnic and interfaith harmony. What can you say in this regard?

Surely, Kazakhstan has an especial experience in the field of tolerance and non-discrimination. There are also other important issues to discuss. They are -freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly, development of court system as well as formation of democratic institutions and freedom of mass media and so on.

Speaking on the experience of Kazakhstan the attention should be paid to the fact that there are already several generations presenting many nations and ethnic groups which live in peace and concord. This situation cannot be compared with that one in the West-European countries. These countries today face a problem connected with large flows of immigrants from all the continents. However I believe that the experience exchange in this field will be interesting and useful.

What do you expect from the OSCE summit scheduled in Astana?

There are a lot of expectations from the summit. As I believe we should expect a new impulse in the work on enhancement of the Organization as well as rising of its efficiency, promotion of stability and security in OSCE space. Besides, the summit could provide a significant impetus to settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

In your view is it necessary to extend the OSCE at the expense of accession of new members?

I do not think it is necessary, as far as there are a lot of other opportunities to impact the situation in neighboring countries and regions. Here it should be noted that the OSCE format relies upon the Final Act signed in Helsinki 35 years ago which covers only those countries related to the west and east blocks of Europe. The situation has a historical background that is why I do not see a possibility to enlarge the circle of the OSCE members. The different matter is the cooperation with other countries and organizations. Due to such cooperation the OSCE can play a definite role in conflict management arising near the OSCE space.

Asia has its own organization as CICA. The interaction with the OSCE can promote the growth of its authority. In some degree it is already being constructed according to the OSCE model as the regional organization with all-around conception of security and cooperation.

Thank you for the interview!