Kazakhstan

OSCE to Hold Summit in Kazakhstan After Eleven Year Hiatus

By Vladimir Socor

On July 16-17, in Almaty, an informal meeting of 56 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) countries’ foreign affairs ministers decided to hold a summit of the organization this year in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. This will be the OSCE’s first meeting at the level of heads of state since Istanbul in 1999 (“Outcome of the Almaty Informal Ministerial Meeting,” Kazakhstan OSCE Chairmanship perception paper, July 17, 2010). READ MORE

Kazakhstan And The OSCE Can Take The Lead In Kyrgyzstan

This summer's Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan presented the gravest threat to Central Asian security since the Tajik civil war of the 1990s. Reportedly, about 3,000 people died and more than 300,000 were displaced in the violence. While some stability emerged after the bloodshed and following a national referendum legitimizing the new government, the urgent needs for speedy reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure and for reconciliation between the two ethnic groups present daunting security challenges. READ MORE

Poland keeps Eastern policy running

By Andrew Slov

Sikorski tour to Caucasus
READ MORE

Kazakhstan ready to join Nabucco gas project, seeks more from EU

Kazakhstan's president said his country is ready to be a part of the Nabucco gas pipeline, but the European Union must do more to make its participation in the project possible. READ MORE

Trade a key issue in Merkel's visit to Kazakhstan

By Catherine Bolsover

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with President Nursultan Nasarbeyev of Kazakhstan to discuss trade and investment. The visit draws her five-day tour of Asia to a close. READ MORE

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Calls On Osce Members To Take Security Dialogue Forward

On 16-17 July at the informal ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Almaty, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis encouraged OSCE members to take dialogue on European and Eurasian security forward. READ MORE

OSCE Chairperson announces agreement on summit, calls Kyrgyzstan crisis a 'vitality test' for Organization

OSCE Foreign Ministers meeting in Almaty reached consensus on holding a summit in Astana this year and reinforcing OSCE assistance to Kyrgyzstan, said the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan's Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev. READ MORE