Within the participation in the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), held on July 8-9 in Slovakia, Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov held talks with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Miroslav Lajčák.

The sides discussed interaction within the OSCE, as well as bilateral cooperation.

The Kazakh side praised the Slovak OSCE Chairmanship, which began on January 1, 2019. It was noted that Bratislava has made significant contributions to addressing the challenges facing the OSCE.

“We support the priorities set for the Slovak chairmanship of the OSCE and, in turn, we are ready to render any support to the successful fulfillment of the functions of the Chairperson," the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan said.

One of the main topics of discussion was the Kazakh initiative to establish an OSCE thematic center in Nur-Sultan on sustainable interconnection, focused on analytic and research work. They noted the timeliness and relevance of this idea, the implementation of which would increase the effectiveness of the Organization in the second (economic and environmental) dimension, enhance its credibility and ensure a more balanced geographical representation in its institutions.

The OSCE Chairperson was also informed about the results of the recent presidential election, the most competitive in the history of Kazakhstan, as well as the latest political changes in the country and the initiatives of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to ensure further economic growth, with particular emphasis on improving the welfare of the Kazakh population. It was noted that Kazakhstan would continue to promote its constructive, balanced and multi-vector foreign policy.

Amidst the ongoing turbulence of world politics, the sides noted the importance and timeliness of the initiative put forward in April by the First President - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev to convene the “Three Dialogues", with the second dialogue suggesting combining the capabilities of the OSCE and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) to jointly solve security issues in Eurasia. In this regard, the importance of comprehensive preparation for the meeting of the two organizations' secretariats, to be held later this year, was noted.

The sides separately discussed the situation in Afghanistan, which plays a key role in ensuring long-term stability and security in the OSCE region. Assisting in the restoration of Afghanistan by non-military methods was one of the priorities of Kazakhstan's OSCE presidency in 2010.

In that context, the Kazakh side proposed holding a special event on Afghanistan in Nur-Sultan this autumn, during the visit of the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE participating States to Kazakhstan. Such an OSCE event would increase the Organization's involvement in resolving the situation and in post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Regarding bilateral cooperation, the sides commended the high level of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Slovakia, with last year marking the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. Over the years, the countries have established a trusting and constructive dialogue, and have developed a legal and institutional framework.

Kazakhstan considers Slovakia one of its key political and economic partners in Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union.

The meeting stressed the need to intensify Kazakh-Slovak economic and trade cooperation and the interest of the Kazakh side in supporting joint projects. Today, there are over 30 companies with the participation of Slovak capital in Kazakhstan.