As OSCE chairing country this year, Kazakhstan has drawn up a schedule of bilateral and multilateral consultations with all the OSCE member-states, stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, which took over the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on January 1, 2010.

The Kazakh Foreign Office also reported that Kazakh Secretary of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs Qanat Bekmırzaulı Saudabayev is to pay visits to the South Caucasus, Balkans, Central Asia and Eastern Europe next year. The visits are part of conflict settlement processes or of the member-states’ combined efforts in specific fields.

Kazakh mass media report that Bulat Nurgaliyev, one of the most experienced Kazakh diplomats, will be appointed OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s Special Representative for conflict prevention.

T.P.