Ambassador of Kingdom of Norway to Kazakhstan Ole Johan Bjørnøy hosted a reception at his residence to officially hand over the duties of NATO Contact Point Embassy to the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia. In a short speech HE Bjørnøy stressed the important role NATO has played in Norway’s security policy, touched upon the NATO – Kazakhstan co-operation during the Norway’s tenure as the CPE, including signing of the Individual Partnership Action Plan for Kazakhstan. He handed over a pen received from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to the Ambassador of Latvia as a symbol of this responsibility.
Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia Juris Maklakovs expressed his delight at taking over this role from Norway who is one of the closest Allies for Latvia within NATO. The Ambassador commended Kazakhstan’s contribution in providing assistance, including financial, to Afghanistan, and providing education to Afghan students in Universities of Kazakhstan. The Ambassador pointed to the important role of Kazakhstan as a regional leader in Central Asia in promoting peace, well-fare and economic development in Afghanistan, together with NATO and other international organisations and countries of the world. NATO also values highly Kazakhstan’s support and co-operation in providing NATO non-military cargo transit to and from Afghanistan through the territory of Kazakhstan.