OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Steinmeier and Kyrgyz Foreign Minister sign agreement on extending operations of OSCE Academy

BISHKEK, 1 April 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev yesterday signed an agreement on extending the current operating modalities and academic independence of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

By signing the Memorandum of Understanding the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the OSCE recognize the Academy as a unique centre for education, professional training, research and the development of dialogue at the regional and inter-state levels in Central Asia.

The agreement will allow the Academy, which has been operational since 2002, to continue educating young professionals in the fields of international relations, security, economic development and governance, as well as in empirical research on regional issues, with the aim of strengthening security in the region.

Steinmeier will take part in a question-and-answer session with students of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek today. This is his second visit to the OSCE Academy, having first visited the institution in 2006.

The Academy offers postgraduate Master of Arts programmes in Political Science with a focus on Central Asia, Politics and Security, and Economic Governance and Development. The majority of students are from the five states of Central Asia, and since 2008 from Afghanistan.

The Government provides premises to the OSCE Academy free-of-charge. The Academy is supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek along with extra-budgetary funding from 22 of the 57 OSCE’s participating States and in-kind donations from several educational institutions in these States.

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office is on an official visit to Kyrgyzstan as part of his Central Asia tour from 30 March to 1 April which also includes visits to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.