After the visits of the Czech Republic Prime Minister and the EU Chairman to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Mirek Topolanek can positively state during the oncoming EU sessions, that these three countries won’t refuse of participation in the “Nabucco” project. READ MORE

Continuing state interference and an unfriendly business climate continue to deter potential investors, NBCentral Asia commentators say.

In late January, the state property committee announced a tender to sell shares in two hotels in the capital Tashkent, the Grand Mir and the Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent, valued at 7.8 and 11.3 million US dollars, respectively. READ MORE

“Yegemen Kazakhstan” newspaper writes in its front page article “Collective Security Treaty Proved Its Viability”: “Four issues were reviewed during an extended Session of the Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member-states in Moscow last week. The first issue referred to the establishment of Collective Rapid Reaction Force …” READ MORE

At a meeting of the European Union's General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on May 26 of last year, Poland, seconded by Sweden, first proposed what has come to be known as the Eastern Partnership, a program to 'integrate' all the European and South Caucasus former Soviet nations - except for Russia - not already in the EU and NATO; that is, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. READ MORE

Norway will contribute to providing energy security for Europe also in the future. However, we cannot escape the fact that currently there are challenges tied to this statement. This is not least due to the low oil price, high cost levels and the need for technical innovations in the context of a decline scenario.

2008 is the year when oil prices spiked then collapsed, and the world went into recession. What awaits us in 2009? Today, I will say it is a very unpredictable year. But this can to some extent be compensated through careful planning and actions from governments and industry – both separately and combined. READ MORE

56 participating states of OSCE agreed on February 12 to extend presence of 20 unarmed monitors in the areas adjacent to breakaway South Ossetia until June 30.

OSCE decided on August 19 to "immediately" deploy 20 of its observers in the adjacent areas for the period of at least six months. READ MORE

"There are many urgent problems that demand our attention. They are captured in the rather ambitious title of our session: NATO, Russia, Oil and Gas and the Middle East: the future of European security. That is rather a lot to cover in a short intervention. Let me first focus on the last element: European security as such". READ MORE

The American vice president starts to outline Barack Obama's new foreign policy in Munich.

The new foreign policy of the United States under President Barack Obama is characterized by the willingness to enter into dialog on the one hand and a consistent call for international cooperation on the other hand. While Biden repeatedly stressed the willingness of the new Administration in Washington to enter into dialog, he warned Iran quite bluntly against continuing with its nuclear course. READ MORE

Just recently many European mass media presented Kazakh program “The way to Europe”, developed in accordance with the Letter of Kazakhstan President “Improvement of the well-being of Kazakhstan people – is the main objective of the state policy”. In respect with the Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan foreign policy, the development of comprehensive cooperation with European countries is a strategic interest of Kazakhstan. We intend to integrate into the process of European cooperation and development, to use to the maximum the potential of technologic, energy, trade and transport cooperation. READ MORE

Exclusive Interview.

How does the dialogue between the EU and Central Asia progress on environment and water issues? Is the EU happy with the progress of the process so far, what has been achieved, what else needs to be done, are all Central Asian countries equally cooperative?
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