Kazakhstan's candidacy to the 2009 presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 55-nation grouping that also monitors elections, human rights, arms proliferation and democracy, has been put forward by the 11 member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"I think that Kazakhstan's presidency of the OSCE satisfies the mutual interests of our country and of the organization," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
"Kazakhstan serves as an example of tolerance with its stability and the peaceful coexistence of its 130 peoples. Our experience can be very important to the OSCE," he said.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan has seen the most rapid economic growth among the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, which smoothed its transition from a command to a market-oriented economy following the collapse of the U.S.S.R.