Kazakhstan ready to take challenging job as first CIS country chairing OSCE

No doubt this chairmanship is a big foreign political achievement of Kazakhstan, the charismatic figure of Nursultan Nazarbayev and his activity being the strongest factor in it. The large-scale initiatives of the Kazakh leader such as the CICMA and the Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions which is now held on the regular basis have won wide international respect. The decision to renounce the soviet nuclear heritage and join the nonproliferation act was also highly appreciated by the world community. Diplomacy and perhaps the contacts of Kazakhstani leader with the outstanding representatives of the political group of the OSCE member countries also helped along to decide in favour of Kazakhstan.
With a number of members opposing that decision, Kazakhstan's diplomacy demonstrated determination and persistence without compromising the national interests. Obviously we can say that this chairmanship is the achievement of Kazakhstani people. For the first time in the new history Kazakhstanis received a meaningful international appraise to their modernization efforts. And this chairmanship is not a goal as such, but another important step in the long-term strategy towards progressive transformation of the public and political life of the country.
The authoritative international organization that consists of 56 member countries acknowledged the policy of interethnic and religious peace in Kazakhstan as correct one, and this experience in ensuring harmonious co-existence of multiple nations in one country was a trump card that led Kazakhstan to the position of OSCE chairman. Many countries backed the position of Kazakhstan which persuaded the members in its ability to cope well with this post and to continue carrying through the democratic reforms in the country. How correctly or effectively the reforms are being carried through is another issue. Many activists inside the country were skeptic and questioned that Kazakhstan was able to adapt its legislation to the OSCE standards. Yet the criteria are that a country must be able to reform the governing structure and adapt the legislation according to the OSCE principles, and the decision made allows to deem that Kazakhstan fit the criteria.
It is no a lucky chance that Kazakhstan is going to be the first post-soviet country to chair the OSCE. This decision confirms the importance of having the experience of sustainable and well-balanced development of the country that can be applied by other participants of the Organization. No doubts, nowadays Kazakhstan is viewed as a guarantor of development and stability of the entire Central Asian region and is a key partner of the OSCE in the region. The upcoming chairmanship of Kazakhstan is going to promote the role of the Organization in Central Asia and entire CIS region. With Kazakhstan chosen to be the chairman the Organization has acquired a new "Eurasian face" among its members which can help generate quite new approaches toward the chronic conflicts. Today Kazakhstan is capable to perform the role of the mediator between the Muslim and European communities which may help many problems on the Eurasian space, and there are reasons to think so. The world knows and appreciates the contribution of Astana to ensuring regional security, strengthening of nuclear non-proliferation regime and the activities on supporting international efforts to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kazakhstan has always spoken for development of dialogue of civilizations, cultures and religions. And today Astana is ready to have its say in the peacemaking activity. And perhaps the new glance from the deep of Eurasia will help the Organization advance in its mission of resolving conflicts on the continent.