Prague 22 Nov. 2002

Statement by H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Summit Meeting Mr. Chairman, Ladies and gentlemen. Let me express my sincere gratitude to this Government of the Czech Republic for the warm hospitality and excellent organization of the meeting. Mr. Chairman, Today the entire world faces the new threats and the modem civilization is seriously challenged. The necessity to unite efforts of the international community in the war against terrorism for the sake of human values is beyond any doubt. Special attention should be given to the issues of strengthening non-proliferation regime. The threat that the weapons of mass destruction may fall into the terrorists' hands thus dramatically increasing the destructive potential of the international terrorism became real. We express our concern about the situation around Iraq. Kazakhstan welcomes the consensus reached at the UN Security Council. The resolution that has been adopted opens a path leading to the settlement of the problems provided that Iraq will not remain in material breach of its obligations. Kazakhstan from the very beginning has resolutely supported counter-terrorist campaign of the US-led international coalition in Afghanistan. Peace in this country is a key element of the security in 'Central Asian region. Unfortunately the situation in Afghanistan remains unstable 'and far from being fully normalized. The problem of illicit drug trafficking from Afghanistan continues to be acute. Despite the well-known events that took solace in this country the volume of the drug trafficking has not been diminished but, on the contrary, has been increased. It enables the criminal groups to finance the terrorists training and to commit the acts of terror worldwide. We consider that terrorism and other forms of extremism cannot be destroyed without elimination of poverty and social-economic discrepancies. One cannot ignore the fact that the enormous number of deadly weapons flow to the hotspots confronts the declarations of peace. We also concerned by the fact that international terrorist organizations began to actively recruit people living in Central Asia in order to infiltrate into Europe through our region. In this regard we propose to study the possibility of establishing permanent working contacts among intelligence agencies of interested EAPC countries. Kazakhstan is ready to work together with the EAPC countries on resolving the problems that are of great importance for all of us, for example, within the framework of "Planning and review process" - basic tool of the Partnership that ensure interoperability of the armed forces of our countries. The establishment in Kazakhstan of PfP training center in the spheres of border control and fight against the most dangerous forms of smuggling could have' important practical significance. Mr. Chairman, On June 4, 2002 the First Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) took place in Almaty. This forum has become a unique event of a big historical significance. For the first time ever the leaders of 16 Asian states have gathered, together to express their firm intention to find ways to ensure stability and security in Asia. The views expressed at the forum as well as adopted documents - Almaty Act and Declaration on Eliminating. Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations - have proved aspiration of .the Asian countries to work together for the sake of strengthening security in the continent. Kazakhstan is absolutely convinced that security in Central Asia is directly linked to the situation in Europe. We call upon EAPC countries to embark on the course of concrete and resolute actions- We deem it extremely important to make use of the NATO potential to the full extent in order to respond together to the challenges, of the modem civilization. Thank you for attention.