Kazakhstan: Astana Intensifying Efforts to Hold OSCE Summit

Kazakhstan is redoubling efforts to get two important holdouts - the United States and Uzbekistan - to endorse an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe summit in 2010. EurasiaNet recently sat down with Anthony Pahigian, deputy director of the US State Department's Office of European Security and Political Affairs, to get Washington's diplomatic take on the summit idea.

Kazakhstan has made the convening of a summit one of its top priorities for its OSCE chairmanship, which began on January 1. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. But Astana's checkered record on democratization has complicated efforts to secure backing for a grand gathering. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In recent months, various rights groups have kept up a drumbeat of criticism of the Kazakhstani government's record on civil liberty. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists joined the chorus on March 9, assailing officials for what it described as the "politicized prosecution" of an independent weekly, Respublika-Delovoye Obozreniye. A Kazakhstani court earlier in March upheld a ban on the newspaper's distribution pending payment of a court-imposed fine. The ruling, the CPJ said in a statement, "contradicts the mission and core values of the OSCE."

The United States has expressed interest in the summit idea, but has yet to formally endorse a meeting. Pahigian indicated that Washington wants to be sure that any such gathering tackles important issues, and doesn't just end up being a photo-op. "You don't have a summit, just to have a summit," Pahigian told EurasiaNet. "We really would like to see the substance there." [Click here to see the full EurasiaNet interview with Pahigian].

Pahigian indicated that Kazakhstani and US officials will continue discussions on the summit proposal in the coming months. US President Barack Obama and Nazarbayev could meet in April on the sidelines of the Global Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC.

Nazarbayev is also moving to secure support for the summit idea from Kazakhstan's regional rival, Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry has announced that Nazarbayev will be paying a diplomatic visit to Tashkent by the end of March. The timing of the visit indicates that Nazarbayev wants to secure Uzbek President Islam Karimov's endorsement before heading to the United States to attend the nuclear summit.