Press Releases
Embassy Statement on Minikes Visit
April 29, 2005
U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Stephan Minikes visited Kazakhstan April 24 to 27 to discuss the Government of Kazakhstan’s desire to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. He held a wide range of meetings with government and civil society representatives.
Ambassador Minikes emphasized in his meetings with Kazakhstani interlocutors that the U.S. government has not yet taken a position on which country to support for the 2009 chairmanship. He stressed that any country which holds the chairmanship of the OSCE must exemplify the principles of the organization, and must be prepared to shoulder the significant burden that the responsibility brings.