Kazakhstan FM, EU High Representative meet

BRUSSELS. March 18. KAZINFORM /Yerzhan Ospanov/ Within the framework of a joint ministerial session of the OSCE Troika and the European Union Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Marat Tazhin has met with EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana; Kazinform reports.

During the meeting the sides discussed the issue of entering into the agreement on the advanced new partnership between Kazakhstan and the EU. It was noted that despite the crisis of 2008, the volume of bilateral trade turnover reached USD 39.1 bln. ?This shows that the European Union is the largest partner for our republic, for this reason the new agreement is very important?, M.Tazhin said to journalists. Kazakhstan?s accession to the World Trade Organization became another topic of the discussion. The visa policy was also considered. ?It is a complex and lengthy process, because the EU immigration and visapolicies are strict?, the Minister said. M.Tazhin and J.Solana had a talk on Afghanistan. ?His opinion on the Afghan issue is important for us, and he was interested in the Kazakh position, opinion and vision of the Kazakh President?, M.Tazhin said. Foreign Minister emphasized, that the views of the Kazakh President and the EU leadership coincide in some issues, solution to problems connected with security in Afganistan. In this context, the Minister noted that within the framework of the SCO, a conference on Afghanistan will be held in Moscow at the end of March.