Astana, August 6th – The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev welcomed the OSCE decision to hold an OSCE Summit later this year in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on December 1st & 2nd. This decision was unanimously adopted by the Organisation’s Ministerial Council on August 3.

“I should like to stress in particular that the decision on the holding of the OSCE Summit in Astana represents a great achievement for the Organization itself in these difficult times. We now have to devise joint steps to deal with new and existing threats in all three dimensions in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area. The Astana Summit should identify the strategic areas of work and road map for the OSCE's development”, declared President Nazarbayev.

The top-level meeting will enable the Organization to strengthen its role in countering modern threats and challenges and to demonstrate to the world community the successful evolution of the OSCE from Helsinki to Astana.

As the OSCE Chairman in Office, Kazakhstan aims to move from the concept of a ‘space of security from Vancouver to Vladivostok to the creation of a ‘single Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian community of security’.

"Holding the OSCE Summit – the first big international event of this kind in the post-soviet space - is not only an honour but a great responsibility. It is important now to work on its preparation at the highest level. We have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the main values of our society - tolerance, respect to traditions, trust and mutual understanding", the President said.

In his January address to the OSCE Council, the President had declared that reaching consensus on the need to convene the Summit should be a priority for Kazakhstan’s presidency of the OSCE.

The last Summit of OSCE Heads of State was held in Istanbul in November 1999 - resulting in the adoption of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the signing of the Charter for European Security. In the Charter, the Heads of State declared their "firm commitment to a free, democratic and more integrated OSCE area, where participating States are at peace with each other, and individuals and communities live in freedom, prosperity and security.”

The OSCE Summit in Astana will be held in the year of the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 20th anniversary of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe.