The 20th anniversary of the OSCE presence in Kyrgyzstan marked in Bishkek

On 9 April, the IBC Executive Director took part in the conference “20 years of the OSCE presence in the Kyrgyz Republic. Achievements and Prospects”, as well as in a meeting with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Miroslav Lajčák.

The main OSCE objectives are conflict prevention, a safe future and mutually beneficial cooperation, Miroslav Lajčák said at the conference, stressing that Central Asia has strategic importance for security in Europe.

Kyrgyzstan has achieved success and positive results in cooperation with the OSCE. Democratic reforms are being actively carried out, the electoral system has been successfully changed, and the fight against corruption, radicalism and extremism is progressing fruitfully in the country.

The head of the OSCE stressed the need to develop the potential of relations between Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia in the field of politics and economics.

For 20 years of cooperation, the OSCE has made a huge contribution to the development of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Chingiz Aidarbekov said at the conference.

The OSCE head and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister discussed the course of consultations on the development of a new EU Strategy for Central Asia, planned to be adopted this year.

The current state and prospects of interaction between Kyrgyzstan and the OSCE, as well as the importance of supporting Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to further develop parliamentary democracy and improve the electoral system, and in particular, to hold parliamentary elections in 2020, were reviewed.