DUSHANBE, October 16, 2013, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday October 16, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
The sides reportedly discussed issues related to strengthening peace and stability in the region, regional problems and the current situation in Afghanistan.
Rahmon and Kozhara also discussed state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The OSCE Office in Tajikistan (previously the OSCE Center in Dushanbe) was established by Permanent Council Decision 852 of June 19, 2008. The OSCE Office works in Tajikistan on all three OSCE security dimensions: the politico-military, the economic and environmental, and the human aspect.
Leonid Kozhara arrived in Dushanbe late Tuesday (October 15) on a working visit. The visit is a part of Kozhara’s tour of Central Asia.
According to the Ukrainian MFA, Uzbekistan was the first leg of Kozhara’s tour of Central Asia. He reportedly visited Uzbekistan on October 11-13. On October 14, he visited Kazakhstan and on October 15, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office visited Kyrgyzstan. Today, Kozhara will leave Tajikistan for Turkmenistan.
Expansion of political, humanitarian and economic cooperation between the OSCE and Central Asia’s nations is a major topic of Kozhara’s discussions with Central Asian high-ranking officials.
While in Tashkent, Leonid Kozhara on October 11 welcomed a decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for its contribution to reducing and eliminating the chemical weapons throughout the world, press release issued by OSCE said.
“Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2013 to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an acknowledgement of its role in ridding the world of one of the weapons of mass destruction and its contribution to assuring peace and stability in the world,” Leonid Kozhara said.
