Thank you, Dr Frobarth, for your detailed report and a warm welcome back to the Permanent Council. I would also like to thank you for your support to the successful visits of Chairpersons-in-Office Osmani and Borg over the past year. The UK remains strongly committed to – and supportive of – the essential work that the OSCE field mission is doing in Kazakhstan and across Central Asia. We recognise the impact that failure to agree the Unified Budget is having on that work.
Kazakhstan is a key partner for the United Kingdom. The signature of the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement by our then Foreign Secretary earlier this year demonstrates the importance the United Kingdom places on this relationship. The Agreement sets out a framework for closer cooperation, and we look forward to building on it across shared priorities including trade, climate, education and security.
Your report rightly focuses on the importance of ensuring the full implementation of reform in Kazakhstan, and progress on the Human Dimension agenda. Representatives of the Government of the United Kingdom have had constructive discussions on this with government counterparts and civil society leaders in Kazakhstan over the past year. We are, however, concerned by calls from some groups to limit the freedom of expression of LGBT+ people in Kazakhstan, and hope that the Government of Kazakhstan will reject such calls for restrictions on the rights of vulnerable minority groups.
I would like to draw particular attention to the report on Gender Based Violence, published by the OSCE Programme Office in advance of the criminalisation of domestic violence in April. This was an important step forward for Kazakhstan and we commend the OSCE Programme Office for its contribution. We also were pleased to see Kazakhstan refer the text of its new law on Mass Media to the Representative on Freedom of the Media for legal review.
The United Kingdom commends the OSCE for their excellent work on security and transnational threats. Ensuring that transnational threats to security are addressed and managed successfully, justly and openly, is of great importance. We fully support the OSCE in this field, and we are pleased to hear of the wide-ranging work undertaken on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, internet freedom and digital rights, and border security.
We would like to thank the OSCE Office for their continued work in Kazakhstan on anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, trade facilitation, and support for small- and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring that opportunities in Kazakhstan are open to all; and that economies in Central Asia continue to attract investment and build prosperity.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kazakhstan for their leadership and wide-ranging support for, and activity in, multilateral organisations. We underline the significance, importance and value of the OSCE mission in Astana.
Once again, thank you Ambassador Frobarth, and your team, for your crucial work. We and our colleagues at our embassy in Astana stand ready to support in any way they can.
Thank you.
