Russia urges OSCE to take delicate approach in assisting Kyrgyzstan
Moscow, September 3 - Russia's envoy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Anvar Azimov, has called on OSCE member states not to impose their assistance in stabilization efforts in Kyrgyzstan because it could do harm to the Kyrgyz interim government.

Russia urges OSCE to take delicate approach in assisting Kyrgyzstan

Sep 3, 2010 at 15:22 | Interfax-Ukraine
Moscow, September 3 - Russia's envoy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Anvar Azimov, has called on OSCE member states not to impose their assistance in stabilization efforts in Kyrgyzstan because it could do harm to the Kyrgyz interim government.

"Kyrgyzstan is still going through a difficult period in its history. At the same time, our organization's obviously good intentions to help Kyrgyzstan restore interethnic harmony and public order, as well as strengthen the potential of its law enforcement services have recently acted to a certain extent as a catalyst for political instability," Azimov said at a session of the OSCE Permanent Council on September 2.

"Given the complex political situation inside Kyrgyzstan, it is important to demonstrate an approach that must be as balanced and careful as possible in order to prevent any defamation of the country's sound political forces who assumed the responsibility to ask the international community for help to prevent a possible collapse of the state," he said.

"In this context, we call on everyone to refrain from putting any pressure on the Kyrgyz side regarding solutions to the question about any forms of assistance on the part of the OSCE," he said.

Russia's position is that "the Kyrgyz authorities' independent active efforts aimed at stabilizing the domestic political and economic situation as soon as possible and the Kyrgyz people's commitment to democratic values should prevail over external assistance," Azimov said.

"The [OSCE] Permanent Council adopted a decision to deploy a police advisory group [in Kyrgyzstan] quite a long time ago, but no progress has been made in the area. There is still no memorandum, and the prospects of starting this operation are still unclear. I would like to ask you a reasonable question: wasn't it a hasty decision to sanction the departure of the group to Kyrgyzstan in July?" Azimov said.

"It would be more logical if we approved this decision only after all of the existing problems are sorted out there," Azimov said.