You're reading: Foreign Ministry: Ukraine to take active part in OSCE summit in Astana

A Ukrainian delegation is planning to take an active part in the summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Astana, Kazakhstan, the director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's information policy department, Oleh Voloshyn, has said.

"The Ukrainian delegation is planning to take an active part in all discussions at this summit," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

Voloshyn said that the OSCE was currently a very unique and useful organization in the European region, providing effective mechanisms for the observance of security issues.

"The summit, which has not been organized for many years, will be an important opportunity for the leaders of the OSCE states to discuss a whole range of security issues," he said.

Voloshyn said that the issue concerned "frozen" conflicts, fighting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, combating drug trafficking, preventing a new arms race, and many other issues that directly affect Ukraine’s national interests.

"We believe that the OSCE has proved its right to exist in a bipolar world, and the next summit shows that the organization will be in demand in the future," he said.

The OSCE summit will be held in Astana on December 1-2.

"Twenty-eight heads of state have confirmed their participation in the summit – 27 presidents and the presidium chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, – the vice president of Switzerland, 10 heads of government, including the prime ministers of Belgium, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, France, Estonia, the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the secretary of state [prime minister] of the Vatican, and the minister of state [prime minister] of Monaco," Serzhan Abdykarimov, summit executive secretary and director of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s Department for the OSCE, told a news conference in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

Kazakhstan holds this year’s chairmanship of the OSCE.

In addition, seven deputy prime ministers have confirmed they will attend the summit. They will represent Britain, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, Malta, the Czech Republic and Israel, which is a partner of the organization.

The delegates will also include the U.S. secretary of state and the foreign ministers of Australia, Algeria, Andorra, Egypt, Jordan, Canada, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Sweden and South Korea.

Deputy foreign ministers will represent Morocco, Tunisia and Japan.

Ireland and Iceland will be represented by ambassadors.

Thirty-three international organizations will also be represented.

Among others, those present will include the European Union president, the secretaries-general of the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), the executive director of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a deputy executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and an aide to the NATO secretary-general.

About 2,500 delegates, 1,200 reporters and 600 representatives of nongovernmental organizations were registered as participants, Abdykarimov said.

"We are ready for the summit," he said, adding that "the airport, hotels, roads, catering, firefighting and medical services are ready."