EURASIAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Central Asia is a region the size of Western Europe and contains five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Blessed with some of the richest and most diverse resources anywhere in the world, over the last twenty years the region has shown its commitment to become a reliable, long-term partner of the West.

Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s engine for economic growth, and the Government of Kazakhstan has taken the lead in developing relations with the European Union. In its commitment to the process of deepening political and economic relations with the European Union, Kazakhstan is participating in the establishment of the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFA), which is a new and dynamic think tank working at the heart of the European Union.

The first Honorary President of the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs is H.E. Erlan Idrissov, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs has been modelled on the highly successful Council on Foreign Relations in the US, the United Kingdom’s Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House and the EU’s own European Council on Foreign Relations. It is envisaged that over time, the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs will become a valuable and independent source of high-quality research, publications and information that will keep Europe fully abreast of the fast-changing development of the Central Asian region. This is a work-in-progress, and it will require dedication and commitment from the ECFA’s team of researchers and writers.

The grant for the establishment costs and first-year programme of the ECFA has been provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is envisaged that, as with similar institutions in other countries, governments in the region as well as corporate sponsors and private individuals will over the longer-term join the funding base of the ECFA.

The Advisory Council of the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs

• H.E. José Maria Aznar OIC, , former Prime Minister of Spain
• H.E. Kjell Magne Bondevik OStO, former Prime Minister of Norway
• Dr. Eckard Cordes, Chairman of the Committee of Eastern European Economic Relations
• Dr. Benita Ferrero- Waldner, former Foreign Minister of Austria and former EU Commissioner for External Relations
• Dr. Aldo Flores-Quiroga, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum
• On. Franco Frattini, former Foreign Minister of Italy
• H.E. Vuk Jeremic, former Foreign Minister of Serbia and President of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
• Dr. Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Die Zeit
• Dr. Vaclav Klaus, former President and former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
• H.E. Aleksander Kwasniewski GCB GCMG GCollH, former President of Poland
• The Rt. Hon. Lord Lamont of Lerwick, former Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom
• The Rt. Hon. Peter Lilley MP, former Secretary of State for Trade & Industry for the United Kingdom, and Vice-Chairman of the British-Kazakhstan All-Party Parliamentary Group
• Prof. Bodo Lochmann, Vice-Principal of the Kazakh-German University
• On. Professor Antonio Martino MP, former Foreign Minister and former Defence Minister of Italy and Professor of Economics at the LUISS University of Rome
• Mr. Georgi Parvanov, former President of Bulgaria
• The Rt. Hon. Jack Straw MP, former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom
• Mr. Olzhas Suleimenov, poet and diplomat, and founder of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement in Kazakhstan
• Mr. Boris Tadic, former President of Serbia
• Dr. Danilo Turk, former President of Slovenia
• Dr. Guido Westerwelle, former Vice-Chancellor and former Foreign Minister of Germany