BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan says it plans to withdraw a complaint it filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Kazakhstan’s moves to step up controls on the border, which preceded a two-month bottleneck.
Deputy Prime Minister Tolkunbek Abdykulov told reporters in Bishkek on December 5 that the complaint will be withdrawn after Kyrgyz and Kazakh authorities agreed on a "road map" to solve the problem.
RFE/RL correspondents reported on December 4 that, for the first time since mid-October, all trucks started passing the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border without any delays and the long lines of cars and trucks had disappeared.
Kazakhstan introduced tougher inspections of all trucks crossing the border on October 10 after then-Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev publicly criticized Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and accused Kazakhstan of meddling in Kyrgyzstan's October 15 presidential election.
Kazakhstan denied Bishkek's accusations, saying the checks had been intensified to curb goods being smuggled into the country.
On November 30, Nazarbaev and Kyrgyzstan’s newly elected President Sooronbai Jeenbekov met in Moscow and agreed to work out a plan to resolve the situation.
