Azerbaijan, Baku, October 30 / Trend , V.Zhavoronkova /
Having Kazakhstan in the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 may make the Russians more willing to discuss new European security within the organization, said Neil Macfarlane, European expert on Central Asia.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, with the assistance of the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Institute for New Democracies, an international conference entitled "Kazakhstan's chairmanship to the OSCE: Challenges and Opportunities" was held in Astana on October28.
It was attended by international experts and diplomats, outstanding experts in the field of international relations.
The media have increasingly raised questions about the effectiveness of Kazakhstan as the OSCE chairmanship.
Having Kazakhstan's chairmanship has a number of predictable consequences, Macfarlane, fellow at London Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs, wrote to Trend in an e-mail.
First, it is a good thing for one of the non-Russian former Soviet republics to take the chair, he said.
"Second, and less positively, I think it is unlikely that Kazakhstan will do much to promote the OSCE's soft security agenda: elections, media, rule of law, rights, etc.," he said.
According to him, finally, it is possible that the discussion Russia has been proposing on a new European security framework will come to the OSCE during Kazakhstan's period of office.
"Having Kazakhstan in the chair may make the Russians more willing to employ the OSCE as the framework for this discussion," Macfarlane said.
In his view, Europe does not expect much from Kazakhstan in the issue of security during its office at the OSCE.
"The OSCE role in security issues has declined for some years, the expert said. I don't think there is much prospect that Kazakhstan as Chair can play a significant role in outstanding regional conflicts in the former Soviet space".
According to him, "Europe" has no expectations from Kazakhstan in the economic area.
This is traditionally one of the weaker parts of the organisation's role, and there is no reason to expect change, Macfarlane said.
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