Saudabayev was in Brussels on Monday (25 January) to inform top EU leaders about his countries' priorities as it takes on the OSCE chair in 2010.
He voiced his intention to lobby for an OSCE summit in an attempt to give renewed prominence to the organisation, which gathers 56 countries from Vancouver to Vladivostok and was first known as 'the Helsinki Process' when it was established in 1975.
"Eleven years have elapsed since the last OSCE summit, held in Istanbul in 1999. Enormous changes have taken place ever since, but the world, unfortunately, has not become a better or a safer place."
"I would like to say that the pressing problems within the competence of the OSCE will not be solved by permanent representatives; they cannot be decided at ministerial level either. These are the field of responsibility and prerogative of our heads of state," Saudabayev insisted.
Saudabayev did not expressly say that his country wanted to host the summit. "We can now enter the process of agreeing on the agenda items of the summit, and next we will agree on the date and venue," said Saudabayev, speaking in Russian.
The Kazakh minister, who is a career diplomat and a former ambassador to Turkey, the UK and the USA, said that his country, which has a good record of inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance, wants to share these experiences and promote inter-religious tolerance as an OSCE priority.
Saudabayev appeared to indicate that even the most prosperous European countries had experienced setbacks in this field, mentioning the recent referendum in Switzerland, where a majority voted to ban minarets on mosques, and France for legislative efforts to ban burqas and the hijab from public places.
In the same context, he stressed the need for the international community to do more to address the worsening situation in Afghanistan, including in the OSCE framework.
Another priority outlined by Saudabayev is the proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security treaty launched by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, which he said deserves the right to be thoroughly discussed within the OSCE.
However, he rejected the view that his country was in Russia’s sphere of influence (EurActiv 21/09/09), despite the fact that it is a member of the Organisation of the Treaty of Collective Security (OTCS), a Russian initiative which also includes Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
