Russian expert: Chairmanship is a chance to give new impulse to OSCE goals

 Alexey Vlassov, what do Russian experts expect from the Kazakhstan holding the OSCE Chairmanship?

I believe this issue should be viewed from two angles. The first is that being the chair of this Organization and the moderator of its international activity Kazakhstan is preparing now and will be implementing a range of international projects. Another angle is internal reformation in order to meet the high standards of democracy which Kazakhstan must obtain not as OSCE Chair but as one of the dynamically developing countries in the post-soviet area.

At the recent session when the President checked out internal preparedness of departments and bodies to bear the responsibility of the OSCE chairmanship, there were sounded important statements about these two angles which are inseparable.

What contribution can Kazakhstan make to the OSCE activity being the Chair of the Organization?

The principle of adherence still exists in the Organization and it has not been renounced yet. It is worthy of note that in 2011 Kazakhstan engages itself as Chair of the Organization of Islamic Conference which will be another stage of search for a new place in the rapidly changing world. Therefore it is not the drastic reform of the OSCE we should be expecting but changes of those directions which obviously need transformation. Such as accurate distribution of responsibilities zones among the three sectors - security, economic and humanitarian development. I believe Kazakhstan is ready to propose new formats for a multilateral dialogue in economic cooperation and humanitarian sphere. There is some excess in the humanitarian sphere; however it is important to remember the other two spheres.

Kazakhstan possesses a ready format of interethnic and inter-religious accord which has been successfully pursued since the gain of independence. Perhaps this model of tolerance should be proposed as universal experience for some European countries which currently face the problems of xenophobia and religious and national intolerance. I believe Kazakhstani experience could be adapted to the European realia.  

The third important direction is activation of the fight against islamophobia, christianophobia and jewphobia. These matters will be discussed at the international level conferences and roundtables, for these problems are quite disturbing. Russia positively views the fact that Kazakhstan where more than 130 nationalities live may contribute to optimization of this process.  

There is hope that Kazakhstan may breathe a new life into the goals proposed by the OSCE. However at present these models do not quite match every country which is unique in its development. Perhaps it will not be possible to refuse from the 'template' approaches of the OSCE in a year, but Kazakhstan has a chance to give a new impulse to the key directions of the OSCE activity, and perhaps starting with small it is possible to get to the fundamental.

How do you assess all the measures that Kazakhstan take on the threshold of the chairmanship?

I highly assess all the steps that Kazakhstan makes today. For the last several years the country has worked within the chosen strategies, and that is important because modeling of processes is always better than situational responding to external irritants.

This is one of the projects towards which President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been trying to approach since long, and I believe it is of special personal importance to him. In 2005-2006 many questioned Kazakhstan's ability to each this aim. But the will, strategic thinking and persistence of the President allowed Kazakhstan to overcome inertness and obtain this goal.   

Kazakhstan makes higher aims which prove it is no longer the country known in early 1990s, but it is a full member and active participant of international relations.

What is your opinion about the Path to Europe program being implemented by Kazakhstan? 

This program is another proof that any process can be conducted based on a system. The foreign office of the country should be paid tribute, as it has done big work in this direction following the instructions of the President. 

To my mind, Kazakhstan's path to Europe is movement towards better living standards. Each country that had gone through a hard transit period has a clear understanding of what it wants to achieve - good quality education, medic care, homes and democratic values for every citizen which are the acknowledged standards of international democracy. On the whole this process is going quite successfully.

I should add that some Russian experts say that Kazakhstan ousted Russia in joining Europe which is absurd. Kazakhstan strives to join Europe alongside Russia. Our countries have similar goals and objectives. It is important to preserve the priorities based on the tradition that Kazakhstan is an important partner and strategic ally of Russia in the post-soviet area. 

What are Russia's expectations from Kazakhstan when it chairs the Organization?

As far as I understand the logic of actions of the President of Kazakhstan, one can be sure that he will never choose a variant where Kazakhstan will spend an idle year. It is evident that all the system bodies and organizations will be required to work and propose something new. And most probably it will not be a structural reform, but an alteration in the internal relations balance. 

Now that Barak Obama is speaking about reloading of Russian-American relations and there is an initiative to limit nuclear arms, perhaps Kazakhstan might play its positive role in this issue as the OSCE Chair. Energy and transportation are another problems that Kazakhstan is going to handle as priority ones.

On the whole I believe Kazakhstan standing at the interface between Europe and Asia will be not a mere conductor of new traditions and cultural values in Europe, but on its own example will show how the elements of European and Asian life can be incorporated in one society and present the world the Eurasian system of values. One of the meanings of this chairmanship is not only recognition of Kazakhstan's merits in building democratic and competitive society, but eventually it is an experiment. Today Kazakhstan has a chance to show Europe where the priorities and advantages of Eurasianship stand in reality.

Thank you for the interview.