Kazakhstan: Officials Pledge to Act as OSCE Bridge Connecting North Atlantic, Eurasian States
President Nursultan Nazarbayev's administration is casting the OSCE's decision to designate Kazakhstan as the 2010 chair of the 56-state organization as an endorsement of Astana's economic and political policies. Kazakhstani officials say the country will seek to repair a rift among members and strive to bolster the organization's democratization capacity.
The OSCE announced in late November at a Ministerial Council meeting in Madrid that Kazakhstan would serve as chair in 2010. Astana had been lobbying for the OSCE chair since 2003, and in recent years the matter had become a top policy priority for Nazarbayev. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Originally, Astana sought the OSCE chair in 2009. The OSCE debated Kazakhstan's application late last year and could not make a decision, ultimately deferring the issue for a year due to concerns about the country's democratization record. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
After the announcement, local media outlets hailed Nazarbayev's leadership. "Experts attribute a huge role in this success to the president of Kazakhstan, whose international standing is very high," state-run Khabar TV commented. "This adherence to the universal principles of democracy and a law-based state was what the OSCE member states primarily had in mind when they voted in favor of our country's candidacy." Meanwhile, the official government newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda called the announcement "sensational."
Nazarbayev, addressing foreign diplomats in Astana on December 10, pledged that Kazakhstan during its chairmanship would "make efforts to strengthen the organization's institutions," the Kazinform news agency reported. Nazarbayev characterized the OSCE as a "unique dialogue platform that unites the north Atlantic and Eurasian spaces."
Political analysts suggested that, despite ongoing concern about Astana's respect for basic civil and political freedoms, practical considerations underpinned the OSCE's decision. Kazakhstan's rising geopolitical importance, especially its role as a major energy exporter, made European Union member states, as well as the United States, reluctant to say
Joanna Lillis is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asia.
Joanna Lillis is a journalist based in Almaty and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.
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