OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck and Speaker of the Senate Kairat Mami in Astana, 21 May 2013.ASTANA, Kazakhstan, 21 May 2013 – OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck is in Kazakhstan this week for a round of high-level meetings before participating in the Astana Economic Summit Thursday.

Meeting Monday with Speaker of the Senate Kairat Mami and Speaker of the Mazhilis Nurlan Nigmatulin, Grossruck encouraged the full participation of the Kazakhstani delegation to the OSCE PA at the upcoming Annual Session in Istanbul and stressed the importance of speakers of parliament attending such events to strengthen inter-parliamentary dialogue.

The Kazakhstani Speakers raised the importance of stability in Afghanistan as an important issue within OSCE region. The draft resolution of the OSCE PA Committee on Political Affairs and Security calls for deepening OSCE co-operation with Afghanistan to address security challenges. Members will debate and vote on the resolution in Istanbul next month.

While in Astana, Grossruck is to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Volkov and the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, before participating in the economic summit.