Kazakhstan takes over OSCE Chair
02.01.2010 11:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kazakhstan took over the Chairmanship of the OSCE
and reaffirmed its commitment to uphold the fundamental principles and
values of the Organization, to proceed according to the interests of
all participating States and to strengthen the role of the OSCE as a
significant platform for dialogue contributing to security in the
wider Eurasian space.
"Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian and former Soviet State to
chair the Organization. This is evidence that the principle of
equality among the participating States remains valid, as well as
recognition of the increasing role of Kazakhstan in a strategically
important region and in the OSCE generally," said the OSCE
Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign
Minister Kanat Saudabayev.

"As OSCE Chair, Kazakhstan will seek to bring closer the positions of
participating States both west and east of Vienna, based on the
principles of impartiality and balance, and to advance the
Organization’s role in strengthening security and deepening
co-operation in the area from Vancouver to Vladivostok."
He added: "We will continue the Corfu Process, and will try to give
new impetus to OSCE efforts to stabilize the situation in areas of
protracted conflicts, and to seek their resolution; develop
international transport corridors; and promote tolerance and mutual
understanding. Kazakhstan intends to work actively with all partners
in the OSCE on preparing and holding an OSCE Summit in the year of the
65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the 35th
anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 20th anniversary of the
Charter of Paris for a New Europe."
Saudabayev took over the Chairmanship from Greek Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country chaired the OSCE in
2009.

"I would like to express my gratitude to Prime Minister George
Papandreou for the excellent conduct of the OSCE Chairmanship,"
Saudabayev said. "I should also like to welcome Lithuania and Foreign
Minister Vygaudas Usackas to the Chairmanship Troika," he said.

The new Chairperson-in-Office will outline the Kazakh Chairmanship’s
priorities in a speech on 14 January in Vienna to the Permanent
Council, a key OSCE decision-making body.