ASTANA – The Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen, will visit Kazakhstan on June 10 for meetings with high-level government officials, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry during the press briefing on June 9.
2025 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen. Photo credit: OSCE/Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
During the visit, the Finnish minister will meet with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairperson of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament Maulen Ashimbayev, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu.
Valtonen will also visit the OSCE Program Office in Astana and hold a meeting with representatives of civil society.
Earlier, Kazakhstan and the OSCE have expressed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in the economic and environmental sectors, during the meeting between Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko and OSCE Coordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) Bakyt Dzhusupov.
Kazakh students at Harvard University
Responding to journalists’ questions, Aibek Smadiyarov—the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the ministry’s Committee on International Information—addressed the situation involving Kazakh students at Harvard following the Trump administration’s decision to revoke the university’s right to enroll foreign students.
“All students who study under state programs are provided with support from the relevant ministry, and if necessary, as you have seen, we will provide them with study in other universities,” said Smadiyarov.
“Those who study on a private basis have signed a contract for services. If a student is not satisfied with the conditions, they can withdraw and continue their studies in other countries. Here, as a state institution, we cannot intervene,” he added.
High-level summits with China and India
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan in June. “We are preparing to hold a Central Asia-China summit in the summer. There will also be bilateral meetings. Details will follow later,” said Smadiyarov.
Following Minister Nurtleu’s visit to New Delhi on June 5–6 to attend the fourth Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the India–Central Asia Dialogue, the question arose as to whether a higher-level dialogue is expected.
“The possibility of holding a summit was discussed there. India is very interested in cooperating with Central Asia. But we, too, are very interested in interacting with India,” said Smadiyarov.
At this time, no official dates have been confirmed.
