Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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There has not yet been a discussion of developments in Kazakhstan at political level in the EU but developments there are being followed closely.

On 18 May the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a series of constitutional changes, among them a provision that the President can be elected for more than two successive terms of five years. This would allow President Nazarbayev, who was re-elected for seven years in December 2005, to continue in office beyond 2012. It appears that other aspects of the constitutional reforms, in the areas of rule of law, more powers for parliament and a greater role for the regions, may have the potential to be positive.

Early parliamentary elections have now been called for 18 August, following which the constitutional changes will come into effect. The quality of these elections, in terms of the OSCE standards for free and fair elections to which Kazakhstan has subscribed, will be important. Ireland will send observers to Kazakhstan to participate in the international election observation mission of the OSCE' s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Embedding democracy is a protracted and difficult process requiring both political will and sustained commitment. Kazakhstan has yet to experience a democratic leadership succession and it is disappointing that it has acted in a manner which is likely to postpone further any possible change of leadership. When the Irish Ambassador in Moscow who is accredited to Kazakhstan raised the matter at high level in Astana, he was informed that the purpose was to ensure continuing stability in the country in the face of internal ethnic and other strains and to facilitate an orderly succession.

Under the EU Strategy for Central Asia adopted by the June European Council, the EU seeks to develop a new partnership with the region and with each of the five countries of the region, (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Takikistan and Turkmenistan). Encouraging greater commitment in those countries to respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law will be an important dimension of the Strategy, to be advanced through dialogue, sharing of experience and technical cooperation. It is particularly important that progress in democratisation should come to be perceived in the region as enhancing stability rather than potentially threatening it.