As reiterated by the President of the country Nursultan Nazarbayev, election to this post manifests high trust of the Organization member countries towards Kazakhstan. The Leader of Kazakhstan has instructed all governmental institutions to focus their efforts on the forthcoming work in 2010, for this is a very important commitment, and Kazakhstan must do its best to cope with  the duties of OSCE Chair so that to strengthen its weight in the international politics. Head of the OSCE Center in Astana Alexandre Keltchewsky told about his viewing of the situation in Kazakhstan and its priorities as the Chair of the Organization. 

In connection with this upcoming chairmanship there is big work being done in the country. In his recent speech at the opening of the Parliament session Nursultan Nazarbayev urged to use the experience the OSCE members' parliaments in order to bring the lawmaking system of Kazakhstan to a higher level. Which parts of Kazakhstan's legislation in your opinion do run counter to the European standards?  

 - I would rather not interpret the proposal of your President, but I believe it is about the very process of the Parliament's work, and not about contradiction to the European standards. Of course the experience of western parliamentarians could be helpful to Kazakhstan. Perhaps you should take a closer look at the way members of European parliaments conduct dialogue with the civil community which is a strictly regulated process. This sphere should be improved in the work of Kazakhstan's Parliament. Our Center in Astana could help, however the Parliament Assembly of the OSCE can be a better tool in this matter. On the whole the necessity to intensify the cooperation between Kazakhstani deputies and the Parliament Assembly has been reiterated several times. In connection with the future chairmanship such partnership is becoming more relevant.

 - Up to now the attention of the OSCE was mainly focused on the humanitarian dimension, civil rights, freedom of media and other issues. Does the Organization survey Kazakhstan's legislation in the economic sector? To what degree does it meet the requirements of market economy?

  - Our Organization studies the questions of stability and security together with the rest components of these topics. All the dimensions are important - humanitarian, economic, military and political. In the economic sphere the OSCE views security also from the angle of environmental protection. We also consider potential danger of economic processes and phenomena which might be a threat for a country and relations among countries. We focus on the issues of democratization. We study  situations at the request of our partners - state institutions or nongovernemental organizations. We do not monitor or carry out an expertise of the legislation system on our own. We do this at the request of our partners. As for economy, the OSCE does have certain approaches towards legislation in this sphere. Yet, the less legal regulation in economic processes is, the better. Less government intervention means more freedom of business and more freedom as such. It is not the legislation in economic sector that we were requested to study, but the experience of the West which Kazakhstan can study and perhaps choose the options that suit best.   

 - At present the economic and environmental dimension in the OSCE work appears particularly interesting to Kazakhstan. This will be one of the main priorities during presidency in the next year. Does the Organization monitor the ecological problems in Kazakhstan in solution of which it might offer assistance?

  - As for the main priorities of the presidency, it is too early to speak about them as the program has not been presented yet. It was declared before that your country is planning to put forward the issues related to transport and transit. This year Kazakhstan is in charge with conduction of the economic-environmental forum in the OSCE Troyka, and the first part of this forum will be opened by the conference on October 12-13 in Astana. The issues of the forum will include transport and cross-border posts and transit which are especially important for Kazakhstan where the main ways connecting Europe and Asia run. Recently the ceremony of the start of a big project - Western Europe-Western China transit corridor - has taken place with participation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Of course it will take much time to carry out such a project, but the World Bank has already provided a loan. This is quite a big project which will strengthen the position of Kazakhstan during its presidency of the OSCE. As for ecology, we are intensifying interaction in solution of social and environmental problems, particularly in the Sub-Aral Sea area. In the end of April 2009 the Central Asian countries' Presidents met in Almaty, where President Nursultan Nazarbayev mentioned the role of the OSCE in this region. He called for more actions and in reply our Organization expresses readiness to cooperate with the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. Soon we will sign a memorandum with this organization.

There are many other important directions of this work. I have recently been to Atyrau where due to support and assistance of the Akimat and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ecoforum of nongovernmental organizations we have signed a memorandum on creation of the Aarhus Center in Atyrau which will be watching the environmental situation in the entire Caspian region. All information about all the work conducted in the region and the activity of oil and gas producing companies will be available for the public community. If people suffer from contravention of environmental protection norms, they will have a chance to appeal against the actions of oil-and-gas enterprises. There are such centers in the countries of Central Asia and Caucasus. This is the first center of this kind in Kazakhstan which was opened on September 21 this year.

 - There have been some changes in the legislation of Kazakhstan which received disapproval among OSCE representatives. They are the amendments made by the Parliament to the internet regulation laws. Do you believe it is impotant to soften legislative requirements in this sphere?

  The OSCE pays close attention to the development of freedom of word, and in Kazakhstan as well. The OSCE has special Representative on Freedom of the Media who watches the situation of freedom of word in all  the OSCE member countries. Moreover, I would like to talk about promotion of freedom of a responsible word. The journalists of post-Soviet countries appear to lack experience, and we hold special trainings and seminars for them. They need higher professionalism so that the media could be self-managed. In the West there is big percent of self-management in the media sphere. This tendency is starting to develop in your country as well. As for the internet bill, we deem it inappropriate when internet resources are equaled to the mass media. We expressed concern about this issue and we are going to closely watch how these amendments will be applied.

 - What new projects are you planning to carry through in Kazakhstan in the next year?

  - This year we have had about 60 big projects. The next year we will have 60-65 projects also. All the projects are concerted with our partners from the governmental institutions. They cover the entire scope of the OSCE activity - military, political, economic and environmental issues and the humanitarian and lawmaking dimensions. There is also an important direction - promotion of independent and highly professional judicial power. Our projects touch the spheres of human rights and freedom of word, and freedom of peaceful meetings. These spheres still have big work ahead.

 - What are the institutions with which your cooperation is developing most successfully?

  - In whole we have good cooperation with all the partners in Kazakhstan. We have very productive joint work with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The management of the Ministry strives for reforms and new approaches. However the system has not totally got rid of the repressive approach inherited from the Soviet time. It will take time for people's mentality to change. We also conduct successful work with the Defense Ministry, Environmental Protection Ministry, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Transport Ministry, the Supreme Court and General Prosecutor's Office and other state offices. We have an open dialogue and this is a positive difference of Kazakhstan from many other countries. We have constant open dialogue between governmental institutions and the nongovernmental sector.

I would like to note that perhaps in connection with the forthcoming chairmanship our assistance and partnership is welcomed widely. Therefore our work in Kazakhstan is becoming more interesting day by day.

 Will Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship prove to be a stimulus for further democratization of our country?

  - I belive this chairmanship will give an impulse to Kazakhstan's further development. It will be good both for your country and the Organization. In any way there should be no way backward. We hope for successful presidency of Kazakhstan at the OSCE and we use every endeavour to make it productive.

  Thank you for the interview.