Thorbjørn Jagland: Kazakhstan - reliable partner of Council of Europe and factor of stability in Central Asia

Speaking about the strategic development of the Council of Europe he emphasized that strengthening the place and role of CE in the international arena, development of relations with partner countries, first of all with Kazakhstan, were the important aspects of work of this international structure.

It bears mentioning that earlier, on January 25, in his speech to the deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, T. Jagland stressed the need to pay special attention to Kazakhstan in the framework of strengthening the organization's role and achieving its strategic objectives.

The Secretary General was also informed of the main provisions of the Kazakh President's State-of-the-Nation Address. He praised the level of dialogue between Kazakhstan and the Council of Europe, which resulted in the accession of Kazakhstan to the European Cultural Convention in March 2010. This allowed to speed up Kazakhstan's integration into the Bologna Process.

Mr. Jagland noted wide prospects of cooperation with Kazakhstan. He expressed intention to pay an official visit to country this year and meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev.