​Foreign Minister Meets with the OSCE Secretary General

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Thomas Greminger. The OSCE High Representative participates in the activities of the Sixth Congress of Leaders of World ans Traditional Religions, initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, reports official website of Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan.

Mr. Greminger welcomed the efforts of Astana to strengthen the global inter-religious and inter-confessional dialog, which, in his opinion, is in great demand in current conditions.

The Secretary-General expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for its continued commitment and support to the Organization, “particularly at a time when multilateralism is under great pressure.”

According to Mr. Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstan sees the OSCE as one of the most important and sought-after organizations in the modern international relations system. The organization can do even more for some countries to overcome disagreements, and for conflicts to be resolved. In this regard, the Kazakh side is ready to continue its peacekeeping mission. The Minster stressed that it is crucial to start negotiations on strengthening security throughout the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area on the basis of a new legal framework, drawing on the legacy of the Astana Summit. He also noted that the three dimensions of security – structured discussions, countering terrorism and other transnational threats and challenges, and promoting sustainable development and human rights issues – urgently required great effort by the participating States.

The Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of equal presence of the OSCE structures throughout the entire area of its responsibility, which will contribute to building trust and mutual understanding. He added that one such structures in the future could be the OSCE Theme Centre based on the EXPO infrastructure for sharing best practices in the areas of economic connectivity, good governance, green economy, disaster risk reduction and energy security. Kazakhstan has been heading the OSCE Economic and Environmental Committee for the second year and intends to involve its partners in projects to develop transport infrastructure, transit potential and tourism in light of the recent State of the Nation Address by President Nazarbayev.

The OSCE Secretary General's visit also includes participation in the international conference “20 years of the OSCE in the Republic of Kazakhstan: Cooperation and Achievements” organized by the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbassy, together with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.

"The Qazaq Times"