Secretary General

VIENNA, 7 March 2013 – International community engagement with Afghanistan and Central Asian states will be the focus of an OSCE event to take place in Vienna on Tuesday, 12 March.

In view of the evolving security priorities and needs in Afghanistan and the wider region in the near future, this event aims to promote a discussion on challenges facing the region and possible next steps in the engagement of the international community in support of Afghanistan, including with regard to  border management, countering terrorism and narcotics, and education.

The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, and Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council Ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk of Ukraine, the current OSCE Chairmanship, will deliver opening remarks focusing on the role of the OSCE in the international efforts on Afghanistan.

Among speakers in the first session will be Vygaudas Ušackas, EU Special Representative and Head of Delegation to Afghanistan; Zamir Kabulov, Special Representative of the Russian President on Afghanistan; James MacDougall, Deputy Director of George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies; Geoffrey Pyatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs (US); and Bulat Sultanov, Director of Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies. They will discuss emerging threats and challenges in the region.

The first session of the conference will be open to media and streamed live.

High-level representatives of the countries in the region and Afghanistan, including Afghan Minister of Counter Narcotics Ahmad Moqbel Zarar, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Sarybay, Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Nizomiddin Zohidov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiev, and Director of the Department of Eastern Countries and Special Representative on Afghan Affairs from Kyrgyzstan Foreign Ministry  Avazbek Atakhanov are expected to take part in the event.

The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Jan Kubiš, EU Special Representative for Central Asia Patricia Flor; Deputy Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Gennady Nevyglas; NATO Special Representative for Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai;  the Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Miroslav Jenča and other representatives of international community will also participate.

The meeting is part of the OSCE Security Days initiative launched in 2012. The OSCE Security Days provide a forum for open debate and further enhancement of the OSCE’s role as a platform for co-operation and dialogue.

Journalists are invited to the opening and the first session of the conference to start on Tuesday, 12 March, at 9:00 at the Neuer Saal of the Hofburg Congress Centre. Preliminary registration of journalists is recommended. To register, please email press@osce.org.

The first session of the event will be streamed live at www.osce.org/sg/99939. Comments can be sent prior to and during the event via Twitter, @OSCE, using the hashtag #secdays.