OSCE Chief Promises Afghans and Neighbours Won't be Forgotten`
OSCE Chief Promises Afghans and Neighbours Won't be Forgotten`
At the end of a regional conference on the future of Afghanistan. OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier told IWPR the international community would continue supporting the country and also neighbouring states after NATO forces withdraw in 2014.
The conference in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on March 26-27 involved the presidents of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Iran, as well as international groupings like the OSCE.
Zannier said the meeting was an important step towards “ensuring that after the international assistance force is withdrawn, the international community will continue trying to help Afghanistan. It won’t just forget about this problem, but will work to help Afghanistan and also the surrounding countries.”
He said the Dushanbe meeting discussed around 30 projects including strengthening Afghanistan’s borders with its neighbours. When it came to increasing the capacity of frontier force, he said, “a strong focus will be here in Tajikistan”. At the same time, Zannier said borders should be seen not only as barriers, but also as conduits for communications between states.
The audio programme, in Tajik and Russian, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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