Central Asia key to OSCE security

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 3 (UPI) -- The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has called Central Asia vital to the overall security in the OSCE.

Speaking at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly annual session in Astana, Kazakhstan, the OSCE chairman-in-office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, called the Central Asia region key to security in the OSCE and also integral in countering threats posed by the terrorist violence in Afghanistan, the OSCE reported.

"Building stability, prosperity and democracy in this region is vitally important for the whole OSCE area," Stubb said in a statement.

"Any ideas that open new avenues for cooperative security are worth exploring. In the face of change, the core strengths of the OSCE are of lasting value. The emphasis on cooperative security, democracy, human rights and the rule of law -- the basic functions -- is still there."

Stubb call for enhancing political reforms and the potential for a new security treaty for the Euro-Atlantic area. The former Soviet block in Central Asia is seen as key to stopping the northern spread of drugs and weapons traffic from the volatile situation in Afghanistan.