DUSHANBE, 03.01.2018. /NIAT «Khovar»/. The chairmanship in the CIS passed from Russia to Tajikistan since January 1, 2018. The Founder of Peace and National Unity – Leader of the Nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon will preside over the year in the Council of CIS heads of state.

It should be noted that at the end of December 2017, speaking at the informal CIS summit in Moscow, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said that during the chairmanship of Tajikistan in the Commonwealth efforts will be directed to strengthening military-technical cooperation, as well as to program of cooperation to strengthen border security on external borders. Also, Head of State noted that appropriate attention will be paid to the issues of combating terrorism, extremism, and illegal drug trafficking.

President Emomali Rahmon added that the efforts of Tajikistan, as the presidency of the CIS, will be directed to further development of economic cooperation. The meetings of the heads of government and the summit of the CIS heads of state planned in Dushanbe will be one of the most important events held in the republic in 2018.

As Sergey Lebedev, CIS Executive Secretary, noted in an interview with RIA Novosti, the concept of Tajikistan’s chairmanship in the CIS in 2018 provides for a whole range of activities aimed at deepening cooperation and activating integration processes. He expressed confidence that the approaches defined by the concept will be supported and implemented with the most interested participation of all countries of the Commonwealth.

We will recall that the Council of CIS heads of state is the highest organ of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes all the heads of the CIS member states. The Council of CIS heads of state deals with fundamental issues, amendments in the CIS Charter, and changes in the structure of the CIS bodies. The meetings of the Council are held annually. Decisions of the Council are taken only with general agreement, but the members of the Council have the right to refrain from discussing the decision. The Council of CIS heads of state was established in the last days of 1991. It actually replaced the USSR State Council.

Moreover…

 Since January 1, 2018, the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has moved from Austria to Italy. Italy will chair this organization until the end of the year. The main priorities of Italy’s chairmanship in the OSCE will be the resolution of existing conflicts in the region, the struggle against radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism; as well as the restoring of trust.

The replacement of the OSCE chairman takes place annually on a rotating basis.

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In January 2018, Kazakhstan will preside for the first time in the UN Security Council. We will recall that since January 1, 2017, Kazakhstan began to work in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for the upcoming two-year period.