By Maria Golovnina ASTANA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The European Union on Thursday pressed Kazakhstan to implement political reforms if it wanted to chair the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been in power since 1989 when the country was still a Soviet republic. It has never held an election judged fair by Western observes, and rights groups criticise Nazarbayev for clamping down on dissent. But EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, on a visit to the Central Asian state, said the EU was ready to support its bid if it showed more commitment to democracy. "We would very much like to support Kazakhstan's OSCE presidency bid," she said in the capital Astana after talks with Nazarbayev. "I think it's high time, 15 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, for a Central Asian country to hold the presidency. But that cannot be at the expense of the OSCE's core values." Western nations have long dangled the carrot of the annual chairmanship of the 55-member European human rights group as a reward for the vast, oil-producer to become more democratic. The OSCE has to make a consensus decision on Kazakhstan's presidency by December. But even with the EU's tentative backing, Kazakhstan -- which sees OSCE chairmanship as a way to boost its global profile -- would have difficulty securing U.S. support. Although the United States has praised Astana, its close ally in the war on terror, for political improvements, diplomats say Washington believes Kazakhstan has made too little progress on its democracy commitments to the OSCE to become its chairman. Ferrero-Waldner said in a lecture at a Kazakh university that Astana still had plenty of time to improve its record ahead of 2009. "We are hoping for signals from the highest level in Kazakhstan that the necessary political reforms, for example, to the media and electoral laws and the constitution, would be carried out in the coming years," she said Kazakh opposition activists have blamed the West for being only mildly critical of the human rights record in the country, which is strategically located near the Caspian Sea. Ferrero-Waldner said the EU was ready to assist Kazakhstan's democratic efforts while developing energy ties with it. (additional reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva)
