Kazakhstan took part in the ministerial meeting of the Stockholm Initiative
Madrid, July 5, 2021
– The Kazakh delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi took part in the regular ministerial meeting of the countries participating in the Stockholm Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was held in Madrid in hybrid format.
In his speech, Minister M. Tleuberdi emphasized that many measures of the Stockholm Initiative coincide with what Kazakhstan is promoting in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Noting that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and the 15th anniversary of the signing of an agreement on the establishment of a Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone, he called to support Kazakhstan’s initiatives to create a Global Leadership Alliance for nuclear security and a world free of nuclear weapons and adoption of the next resolution of the UN General Assembly on the Universal Declaration on Achieving a Nuclear-Free World.
On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, M. Tleuberdi held bilateral talks with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office – Acting Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Christine Linde. The interlocutors considered the issues of interaction between Kazakhstan and the OSCE in the context of the upcoming ministerial meeting of the Organization in Stockholm and ways to strengthen cooperation between Kazakhstan and Sweden.
In particular, they discussed issues of political dialogue at the highest level, trade, economic and investment cooperation, the “green economy” and the fight against the consequences of COVID-19. Separate meetings were also held with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Jordanian Foreign and Expatriate Affairs Minister Ayman al-Safadi. The parties discussed issues of further development of bilateral cooperation and interaction in a multilateral format.
The Stockholm Initiative calls on the international community, primarily the nuclear-weapon states, to use all available opportunities to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines and policies, as well as to complete nuclear disarmament. The first meeting of the Stockholm Group took place in Stockholm in 2019. Along with Kazakhstan, this group includes 16 countries: Argentina, Canada, Finland, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.