Diplomatic Statements bring new Questions on Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship Bid
As reported on this site, one of the many casualties of August’s fraudulent Parliamentary election may have been Kazakhstan’s chances of chairing the OSCE in 2009.
Thus, the Kazakhstani Embassy’s latest press release is puzzling. Two articles topping the release are entitled “USA Optimistic about Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship Bid” and “Germany backs Kazakh OSCE, WTO Bids as Investors are Reassured”.
From the first article, posted on Eurasianet:
At a meeting with the Kazakh Secretary of State, Kanat Saudabayev, the US permanent representative to the OSCE, Julie Finley, has said that the USA views Kazakhstan’s application for the OSCE chairmanship in 2009 with great optimism, a report released by the president’s press service says.
During the meeting in Astana today, Saudabayev and Finley discussed priority areas for Kazakhstan during its chairmanship of the OSCE in case the country’s application is approved by 56 members of the organization at a meeting of foreign ministers in Spain at the end of November.
Ambassador Finley has been working in Vienna for two years, and one would assume is aware of both the Kazakhstani election and the subsequent self-postponing of the Kazakhtani chairmanship bid to 2011 (during a recent meeting in Warsaw). Does she now really believe Kazakhstan has a chance at the chairmanship in 2009? Or does the Kazakhstani embassy just assume that most readers will be unaware of the actual state of the bid, and will accept the statement at face value?
The second article might be even more significant. According to a Bloomberg dispatch, German Economy Minister Michael Glos met with Prime Minister Masimov in Astana, then told reporters in Almaty that Germany would back Kazakhstan’s bid to head the OSCE and join the WTO. It continues:
The German position defies bodies including the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, which oppose Kazakhstan’s bid to head the OSCE, the world’s largest regional security organization, which is involved in election monitoring.
Glos’s comments were made after a meeting in which Masimov provided assurances that Kazakhstan, holder of about 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves, would not implement the provisions of a new law that enables the Kazakh authorities to reclaim natural resources from foreign companies.
So is Germany backing the Kazakhstani bid for 2009 or 2011? And do Masimov and Nazarbayev now intend to connect the OSCE bid with the recent strong-arming in Kashagan? The news release and Minister Glos’s comments are unclear. But these two developments at least cast new doubt on the idea that Kazakhstan will quietly back out for two years and allow Greece to head the OSCE in 2009.
on October 26th, 2007 at 10:00 am
The States don’t want to look as the main opposer to the bid, and delegated this role to Britain. Yes, there are indications that the US are less reluctant than last year, but those are only a diplomacy thing. As for the Kazakh authorities’ declarations, they should be of such kind. The same applies to the statements of the foreign officials - last year it seemed that everyone was supportive, but the consensus was not reached. At the recent hearings in the US Helsinki Commission it was indicated that U.S., Britain and Czech Rep. remain strongly opposeful, and - quote - “apparently, even some countries that formally supported Astana’s candidacy are rethinking their position”.
on October 27th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I agree with Adam’s comments and also that they may be softening their opposition to avoid making Kazakhstan mad by saying, “We’re against it, but we think you have chances of winning and good luck with that.”