Askar Shakirov, Vice President of OSCE PA (Kazakhstan)
The OSCE holds a unique position in the architecture of Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security.
This is the only forum on security policy that brings together all the countries of Europe, the former Soviet Union, the United States, Canada and Mongolia.
The OSCE is an international organization with broad capabilities and great potential in the field of ensuring international security.
However, in recent years we all have witnessed the crisis of the Organization.
First of all, this is due to the fact that, the OSCE does not have a founding treaty under the international law.
In addition, there are fundamentally divergent views on the role of the OSCE among the participating States.
The search for consensus faded into the background.
What we see in the OSCE area is an escalation of tension and an aggravation of serious disagreements.
Today we are experiencing the worst security situation since the end of the Cold War.
The current crisis of European security is negatively affecting the functioning of the OSCE itself.
Its founding principles have been violated, and trust has been lost.
Therefore, it is important to build trust between states, to seek common ground.
We need an open and honest dialogue in order to overcome our disagreements.
We need to work together on understanding the benefits and added value of strengthening the OSCE’s role as a unique multilateral platform for peace-building and conflict prevention.
This is the essence of multilateralism.
This is a search for collective answers to global problems and their joint solution, where the future and destinies of the world are in the joint responsibility of all countries.
We need to remember the shared responsibility we have for peace and security.
In the year of its OSCE chairmanship in 2010, Kazakhstan set itself such objectives as strengthening the Organization, promoting its effectiveness and ability to respond adequately to contemporary challenges and threats.
As a result of close cooperation with all the states of the region and the consistent work of the Kazakh chairmanship, the OSCE Summit in Astana became a serious political breakthrough.
The Astana Declaration was adopted, that launched creation of Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian community with common and indivisible security.
At this forum, the concept of «security community» was introduced instead of the former term «security space».
Therefore, we should all preserve and promote the spirit of Astana and the spirit of Helsinki.
Only such a unifying approach will allow us to preserve the Organization and unlock its potential as an effective multilateral platform for decision-making on fundamental issues of security and cooperation.
[This was the speech of Askar Shakirov, Vice President of OSCE PA (Kazakhstan) at the conference “The role of neutral states in strengthening security, stability and dialogue in the OSCE Area,” organized jointly by Turkmenistan and OSCE PA on 16 May 2023 in Ashgabat.] /// nCa, 17 May 2023