RELATIONS BETWEEN
THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN AND ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE

(OSCE)

General information

            January, 1992 - the Republic of Kazakhstan joined the OSCE.

            1995 – Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the OSCE (Vienna) was established.

            January, 1999 – OSCE Center in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty) was opened.

April 3,  2004 – Ambassador I.Vikki (Norway) was appointed as a Head of the OSCE Center in Almaty.

21 June 2007 – By the decision of OSCE Permanent Council Center was renamed into OSCE Center in Astana.

From June 2008 – Ambassador A.Kelchevsky was appointed as Head of the OSCE Center in Astana. 

The accession to the Organization reflects Kazakhstan’s aspiration to play more active role in European processes, in order to develop and to put into practice the principles stated in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and other OSCE documents.

Kazakhstan managed to achieve a high level of cooperation with the OSCE. At the initial stage a number of the OSCE seminars were held to observe an economic situation in Central Asia at the stage of transition to the market economy, implementation of economic reforms, regional security issues, human rights, etc.

Next step was the signing of Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the Government of Kazakhstan and OSCE on the opening of the OSCE Center in Almaty as well as with ODIHR/OSCE (Oslo, December 1998). In February 2003 the additional Protocol has been signed. The Memorandum with ODIHR/OSCE provides tools to improve the institute of the Representative on Human Rights (Ombudsman), election legislation and judicial system.

Chronology of the most significant contacts

2007:

January 22-23 – the Kazakh delegation comprising representatives of the Kazakh Delegation to the OSCE, the Environmental Ministry and the Kazakh environmental NGO participated in the OSCE Vienna Economic Forum “Key challenges to ensure environmental security and sustainable development in the OSCE area: Land degradation, soil contamination and water management”.

February 22-23 – Kazakh parliamentarian delegation headed by the Senate Speaker K.Tokayev participated in the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentarian Assembly in Vienna.

K.Tokayev made a report at the OSCE PA Permanent committee, where he noted Kazakhstan’s aspiration to make its own contribution to the further progress in the OSCE. The chiefs of the PA and of the national parliamentarian delegations unanimously supported Kazakhstan’s initiative to hold the 17-th session of the OSCE PA in 2008 in Kazakhstan, stressing that this decision will help to strengthen the inter-parliamentarian dialogue and cooperation as well as to broader engagement of Central Asia in achieving the OSCE vital goals.

April 10-11 – the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Minister of foreign affairs and cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos paid a visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit he met President of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev, Speakers of the Senate and the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev and U.Muhamedzhanov, Premier-minister K.Masimov, Minister of foreign affairs M.Tazhin and Minister of defense D.Akhmetov. The negotiations dwelt on the cooperation between Kazakhstan and the OSCE and Spain, Kazakhstan’s bid to chair the OSCE in 2009 and the public and political situation in the state and in Central Asia on the whole.

May 16-18, 2007 – the Kazakh delegation comprising representatives of the CEC, the Ministry for culture and information, the National centre for human rights, the Ministry of Justice, the MFA and the Kazakh embassy in Poland took part in another ODIHR/OSCE annual seminar “Efficient participation and representation in democratic societies”.

The officials of the Kazakh delegation took the floor in three working sessions on the development of civil society and democratic institutions, on the maintenance of the rule of law, the freedom of speech and media, the freedom of religion, the rights of national minorities and the provision of equal rights for women. In particular, in the course of the first session the head of the Kazakh delegation – M.Sarsembayev, the CEC member – acquainted the participants of the forum with the Constitutional amendments set forth by the President N.Nazarbayev at the plenary session of the Chambers of the Kazakh Parliament.

Within the purview of the seminar the Kazakh delegation held side-talks with the ODIHR/OSCE management headed by Director K.Shtrohal.

May 23, 2007 – the Kazakh delegation constituted of the Deputy Minister of environmental protection A.Bralieyev, the Chairman of the agency for land resources management B.Ospanov and Kazakh diplomats in the Czech Republic participated in the XV OSCE Economic and environmental Forum in Prague “Key challenges to ensure environmental security and sustainable development in the OSCE area: Land degradation, soil contamination and water management”.

In the course of the Forum activities the Kazakh delegation suggested that the European and the Asian processes of sustainable development be united into one Eurasian process and the III World summit on sustainable development in 2012 be held in Kazakhstan.

June 22 - the Presiding Commissioner on human rights under the President of Kazakhstan S.Tursynov, CEC members and Ombudsman office visited OSCE headquarters in Warsaw.

July 25-27 - E.Ertysbayev, the minister of Culture and Information, took the floor on the OSCE permanent council meeting. In his speech Mr.Ertysbayev highlighted the aspects of reorganization in the sphere of informational provision and perfection of Mass media legislation. Also, the minister held meetings with OSCE General secretary M.P. de Brishanbeau, OSCE representative on the issue of mass media freedom M.Kharashti, and heads of delegations under OSCE.

September 10-12 - the Ambassadors of the Kingdom of Belgium (B.de Crombrugghe), Slovakia (P.Lizak) and Sweden (V.Bard-Bringeus) visited Astana and Almaty. The private talks were organized in the Senate of the Parliament, President’s Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

October 9, 2007 – visit of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Mr. K.Vollebaek.

November 5-6 - K.Shtrohal, the director of the БДИПЧ/ОБСЕ, made a visit to Astana, during which he had meetings in the President’s Administration, Human Rights Commission, Supreme Court, CEC and MFA aimed at presenting the Final Report (published October 30, 2007) of the Human Rights mission concerning the parliamentary elections observance that took place on August 18, 2007, and discussing the ways of further cooperation based on the recommendations given in the report (so-called “follow-up”).

November 29-30, 2007 - The Kazakhstani delegation headed by Minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.Tazhin took part in the 15^th regular session of OSCE in Madrid. One of the key issues on the agenda was the consensus attainment upon the Kazakhstan’s application for the presidency in the organization. 

As a result of the negotiations an agreement about Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in 2010 was achieved. At the same time any conditions, obvious or latent mechanisms of its execution delay were excluded.

In many respects the chairmanship decision is due to the acknowledgment of real progress of Kazakhstan in the democratic society and liberal market economy construction. The consensus of OSCE is based on the recognition of its participants that our state adheres to internal and external policies which in its turn provide political stability and accuracy in the course of foreign affairs.

Such a decision might be definitely called as a historical and unprecedented one according to a raw of reasons. This is the first Turkish Asian state with predominant Muslim population to lead the organization. While, among the OSCE presidents, mostly the representatives of the Western Europe, the candidates for the EU membership, dominated. No one CIS country could have pretended to such a post before.

In that way the determination proved the genuine equality between all the states-participants of the Organization.

On the whole, the status of the chairman of one of the most prestigious regional forums raises Kazakhstan to new level of perception in the modern world’s frame of reference.  In the middle-term and long-term perspectives this will position Kazakhstan favorably within other international structures, and, first of all, UNO. As well as in bilateral relationship with USA, leading European and Asian countries.

2008:

January 28-29 – Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan participated in the 1^st part of the 16^th  OSCE Economic and ecological Forum in Vienna.

March 6-7 – 2^nd preparing Conference for 16^th OSCE Economic and ecological Forum took place in Ashgabad.  

April 21-22 – Round table on the OSCE theme took place in Astana. Representatives of the OSCE Secretariat, Ministries of foreign affairs of the former OSCE Chairmen, leaders of the European research and educational centers were invited to participate in this event. Specific recommendations were developed based on the results of the round table meeting.

May 16 – Bilateral Kazakhstan-Russian negotiations at the level of the deputy ministers of foreign affairs on the OSCE theme took place in Astana.

June 1-2 – Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan headed by the Minister of foreign affairs M.Tazhin participated in the meeting of the heads of the Ministries of foreign affairs of “Quintet”, consisting of the current Troika (Spain, Finland, Greece), Kazakhstan and Lithuania.

June 29 – July 3 – 17^th Annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Astana. Over 500 delegates representing more than 50 states of Europe, Asia and America, as well as international and parliamentary organizations took part in the Annual session in Astana.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev, Chairman of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev and the Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly G.Lennmarker gave welcoming speeches at the opening of the plenary session.

Portugal representative Z.Soares and Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev were appointed as Chairman and co-Chairman on the last working session.

Astana Declaration, which includes paragraphs related to transparency within the OSCE framework on political issues and matters of security, economy, science, technology, environment, democracy, human rights, human issues, further OSCE reforms and broadening the participation of the parliamentarians in the Organization’s work was adapted on the final plenary session.

            29 September –- 10 October – annual ODIHR/OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting took place in Warsaw. Representatives of the Government of Kazakhstan, members of the Senate of the Parliament, representatives of the Supreme Court, National Commission on women and family-demographic policy and Commission on Human Rights, presented official statements during the forum’s plenary session, and also participated in various discussions and roundtables, where they outlined and clarified the position of the government on certain aspects of human dimension.

           15-16 October – Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims Ambassador O.Orhun paid an official visit to Astana. Within the framework of his visit O.Orhun met with the heads of the General Prosecutor’s Office, National Center on Human Rights, Ministry of Culture and Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior with the aim to prepare a report on the situation with Muslims in Kazakhstan.

           4-5 December – 16^th annual OSCE Ministerial Council meeting was held in Helsinki. The official delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs M.Tazhin, participated in it.

            Within the framework of the Ministerial Council meeting, Minister held a number of meetings with the OSCE Secretary General M.P. de Brichambaut, heads of delegations of US, Cyprus, Georgia, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and also with the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly J.Soares.

            The main themes of the forum were the Organization’s reformation process, modern state and future of European Security, as well as August crisis in South Caucasus and its consequences.

2009:

Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan headed by Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev took part at the annual winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on February 18-21, 200  in Vienna. During the event they presented a special program “The way to Europe”.

On March 16-17, 2009 the 2^nd preparatory conference to the 17^th OSCE Economic-Ecological Forum (EEF) “The management of migration and its role in economic, social and ecological policy on maintenance of stability and security in OSCE region” took place in Tirana (Albania).

Kazakhstan delegation consisted of the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population and Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the OSCE took part at the conference.

Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs M.Tazhin took part at the joint session of the directing bodies of the “Troikas” of the largest European structures – the OSCE and the EU on March 17, 2009 in Brussels.

The exchange of views on such issues as situation in Georgia, the Western Balkans, initiatives on the future of the European security took place according to the agenda.

The discussions showed readiness of the parties to promote constructive dialogue on the most topical issues as demanded by political and financial context of the present.

The results of the meeting have confirmed the importance and demand of the approved mechanisms of consultations in the OSCE-EU format, which with the participation of Kazakhstan passed for the first time. Besides, participants of the meeting again noted that the issue of the European security can be discussed both within the OSCE framework and outside of this format.

On April 27-30, 2009 the visit to Kazakhstan of Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR/OSCE) Mr. J.Lenarcic took place. Discussion of the issues of preparation of Kazakhstan for the OSCE chairmanship in 2010, and cooperation of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the ODIHR/OSCE became the purpose of the mentioned visit.

J.Lenarcic was received by Chairman of the Senate of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokaev, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.Ashimbayev, members of the Committee of Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on International Affairs, Defense and Security, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.Tazhin, Chairman of the Central Election Committee K.Turgankulov, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan S.Tursunov and Kazakhstan Ombudsman A.Shakirov.

Issues of cooperation in the sphere of legislative reform and execution of the OSCE commitments in human dimension accepted by Kazakhstan were discussed in the framework of the meeting.

J.Lenarcic positively characterized cooperation of Kazakhstan with the ODIHR/OSCE in general and expressed readiness to provide support to preparation of Kazakhstan to the chairmanship in the OSCE.

On April 29, 2009 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Zhigalov held a series of negotiations with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Great Britain on European issues K.Flint, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Great Britain Sir P.Rikettsom, leader of the British delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly T.Lloyd, directors of  various departments of the Foreign Office in the framework of consultations between Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Great Britain on OSCE issues.

The exchange of views on a wide range of issues, including the situation in Moldova and energy security (supply of gas from the Russian Federation) took place at the meeting with other members of the Great Britain’s delegation. The British side expressed the opinion that the promotion of the human rights and democratization had been prominent aspects of the OSCE work. K.Zhigalov confirmed the intention of Kazakhstan on effective implementation of the goals in all three dimensions. In general, the British parliamentarians supported the chairmanship of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the OSCE and expressed the readiness to assist in implementation of the state program “Path to Europe” considering the unique geopolitical component.

The British side called Kazakhstan to the identification of realistic tasks for the purpose of achievement of concrete results.

On May 18-20, 2009 the second part of 17^th OSCE Economic-Ecological Forum “Migration management and its role in economical, social and ecological policy on maintenance of the stability and security in the OSCE region” took place in Athens (Greece) in which the Kazakhstan delegation took part.

The Forum’s agenda included issues of legal and illegal migration, role and connection of migration to economic, social and environmental policy, partnership and interstate cooperation in the field of migration administration and other aspects of migration.

On May 26-27 the visit to Kazakhstan of the OSCE High Commissioner on national minorities (HCNM) K.Wollbaek took place. The aim of the visit was the discussion of issues on cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the HCNM on the eve of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the OSCE in 2010 and participation of the High Commissioner in the work of Seminar “Legislative maintenance of social integration in a multinational society”, which was organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On May 27, 2009 Kazakhstan-Russia consultations between Ministries of Foreign Affairs on of the OSCE and NATO issues took place in Moscow. Delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan was headed by the Deputy Minister K.Zhigalov.

The main objective of the visit was the analysis of the support of the Russian Federation on possible priorities of Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in 2010. Following the outcome of consultations the Russian side declared support of our suggestions on advancement of interaction in spheres of counteraction new challenges and threats, cooperation on Afghanistan, transport issues, tolerance, etc. following the results of consultations.

The fruitful exchange of opinions and key issues of the OSCE agenda took place. Kazakhstan delegation learned the approaches of Russia concerning such problematic issues as “frozen” conflicts and OSCE reform, what will promote development of balanced and weighed policy of Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in the OSCE on the specified questions taking into account interests of the “large” states.

On June 26, 2009 the meeting with Coordinator of the OSCE Economic-Ecological activity G.Svilanovich took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Economic and Environmental Adviser for economic problems of the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE economic and environmental activities (OCEEA) N.Lindrus Kopolo and representatives of the Centre of the OSCE in Astana also took part in it.

General issues of cooperation in the sphere of competence of the Office and basic modalities of the First preparatory conference to the forthcoming 18 EEF OSCE and Forum as a whole were discussed during the meeting.

Meetings with Vice-minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Bekturov, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan T.Duisenova, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Water Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Kenshimov, and also with Chairman of Executive Committee IFAS S.Ibatullin were organized within the framework of the visit of G.Svilanovich to Astana.

On June 27-28 the informal meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE participating states took place on the Greek island Corfu.

Discussion on the future of the European security and latest initiatives on its strengthening became the aim of the event.

In general opinion, the OSCE is the most suitable platform for dialogue on security. Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian participants are represented here, which are involved in the activity of the Organisation in all three dimensions. It is possible to carry out negotiations on the basis of the OSCE and also use it for an information exchange with other structures. Thus Moscow considers it necessary to actively involve all other security structures in the offered discussion of a new architecture of security (NATO, CSTO, CIS, EU, PA OSCE).

Thus, the informal ministerial meeting became the beginning of teamwork of the OSCE participating states on restoration of the atmosphere of trust and openness, resuscitation of effective security tools in the OSCE area and their further development.

June 30, 2009 the Seminar on Tolerance and Non-discrimination was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan within the Chairmanship in the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group in Astana prior to the Third Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. This event was attended by the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group representatives (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia). The seminar is aimed at promotion of tolerance and non-discrimination as well as enhancing cooperation in this area within the OSCE and in region of Mediterranean Partners of Organization.

The seminar gave the participants an opportunity to openly discuss current issues in the area of tolerance, as well as to share their countries’ experience in promoting inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue and protection of rights of migrant workers. It also contributed to the development of Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship’s human dimension agenda.

Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU) and the OSCE Center in Astana held a regional conference «Enhancement of regional co-operation of Central Asian law enforcement authorities in combating organized crime» in Astana on July 1, 2009. Based on the results of the event the OSCE SPMU expressed the opinion that the Organization could provide assistance to creation of a regional working group, which would include representatives of Central Asian law enforcement authorities and, possibly, Afghanistan.

9-10 July 2009 – OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting: Freedom of Religion or Belief took place in Vienna with participation of the official delegation of Kazakhstan, which included representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Information and Ministry of Justice.

Participants of the event noted the need for further discussion of problems in the sphere of ensuring religious freedom and belief, as well as development of a dialogue between the state and religious associations, balance between believers and non-believers and definition of the role of mass media in this sphere.

3-4 September 2009 – The extended seminar on the topic of Kazakhstan’s model of interethnic and inter-confessional accord was organized in Hague in co-operation with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities with participation of representatives of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, governmental authorities of the Netherlands and Kazakhstan and OSCE institutions.

During the event Kazakhstan’s delegation also visited Frisian Academy (Leeuwarden) with the aim to exchange best practices in the sphere of integration of national minorities into socio-political life with representatives of scientific and research circles of the Netherlands.

Overall, the visit of Kazakhstan’s delegation to the Netherlands facilitated promotion of Kazakhstan’s model of interethnic accord at the international level and exchange of opinions on state nationality policy.

17-18 September 2009 – OSCE ODIHR briefing for the OSCE Task Force of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan took place in Astana within the framework of preparation for Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in the OSCE in 2010.

Briefing’s participants included OSCE ODIHR Deputy Director D.Wake, Head of the OSCE Center in Astana A.Keltchewsky and his Deputy J.Kloetzer, as well as representative of the Office’s thematic departments, who provided information on ODIHR’s planned activities for 2010 and held consultations with experts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

The briefing facilitated strengthening of working contacts that would ensure constructive interaction with aforementioned institution during Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship in 2010.

20-23 September 2009 – OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) K.Vollebaek visited Kazakhstan.

Within the framework of the visit K.Vollebaek participated in the international seminar «Participation of Kazakhstan’s ethnic groups in socio-political life. Role and efficiency of consultative bodies: the experience of Assembly of People of Kazakhstan», which was organized by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with participation of the HCNM. 

During his visit K.Vollebaek also visited Almaty and South-Kazakhstan regions, where he held meetings with city and regional leadership, as well as teachers, parents and students of schools with Uighur and Uzbek teaching languages.

Consultations between Kazakhstan and Russia at the level of foreign ministries on the issue of OSCE engagement in the sphere of combating new threats and challenges and Afghanistan took place in Moscow on September 22, 2009. During the event Kazakhstan’s side stated its approaches to energizing of anti-drug-trafficking and anti-terrorist co-operation, improvement of OSCE police activity in 2010. There was also an exchange of opinions on Organization’s involvement in resolution of Afghanistan’s issues.

Within the framework of preparation for the OSCE Chairmanship in 2010, delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan participated in the meeting of heads of OSCE field missions in South Caucasus on September 24-25, 2009. The focus of the forum was on political, economic and humanitarian issues of the region, as well as its main issue – Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Heads of the OSCE missions in Baku and Yerevan provided an analysis of approaches of the parties to the conflict on its possible resolution.

28 September - 9 October, 2009 – Annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting took place in Warsaw with participation of the official delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

A wide range of human dimension issues was discussed during the forum, including rule of law, democratic elections, freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression and free mass media, gender equality, human trafficking, etc.

Kazakhstan’s side organized two side-events on issues of «Freedom of Religion in the Republic of Kazakhstan» and «Presentation of the National Human Rights Action Plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2009-2012» within the framework of the event.

Date of issue: 2009-10-10