Kazakh Leader A No-Show At NATO Forum In Astana
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer addresses the Astana forum.
June 25, 2009
ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev did not attend the third forum of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) in Astana, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
His greetings speech were conveyed by Kazakh Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin. The message was in English, and no translation into Kazakh or Russian was provided.
It had been previously announced that Nazarbaev would take part in the forum.
The EAPC comprises 50 NATO and partner countries, and its main goal is to facilitate consultation on political and security matters.
The current event is NATO's first-ever gathering on that level held on the territory of the former Soviet Union.