#Kazakhstan foreign minister welcomes EU strategy on Central Asia

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi (pictured, centre) has welcomed the EU Strategy on Central Asia, saying it will pave the way for better co-operation and improved regional relations, writes Martin Banks.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday (20 January), he said the strategy “provides the overall framework for regional engagement”.

The strategy should support, among other priorities, Kazakhstan’s transition to a green economy and diversification of its economy, he believes.

“This will help deepen and broaden our relations and is in the interest of all concerned,” he declared.

Tileuberdi was speaking at a news briefing after a day of high level meetings with senior EU officials on the occasion of the Cooperation Council between the EU and Kazakhstan.

The meeting, the 17^th to be held between the two sides, welcomed the adoption of the EU –Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), signed back in 2015.

When asked by this website about the EU Strategy on Central Asia, the minister said he believes the initiative reflects new opportunities which have emerged in the region.

The strategy aims to bring together Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and also to advance the EU’s interests and values in the region.

The minister added that the increased dialogue the strategy seeks to foster is “good” for his country and its regional neighbours, adding that it should prove to be a “platform” for forging “further integration” among Central Asian states.

His comments were echoed by Gordan Grlić Radman, minister for foreign affairs of Croatia, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, who said the strategy will “strengthen” the EU’s enagagement both with Kazakhstan and other countries in the region.

He told reporters: “I am delighted that Kazkhstan has also welcomed and supports the strategy. It will, we believe, strengthen engagement and the modernisation process in the entire region.”

The strategy, adopted last June, provides the overall framework for regional engagement and focuses on resilience and prosperity. It aims to help Kazakhstan’s transition to a green economy and diversification of its economy.

It also provides, added Radman, a new policy framework for EU engagement with the countries of Central Asia over the coming years.

He welcomed the strengthening of relations between the EU and Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan since the adoption of the first EU strategy for Central Asia back in 2007.

Aside from the strategy both Radman and Tileuberdi also noted that the EU –Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), signed in Astana on 21 December 2015, had now been ratified by all EU member states and the European Parliament and, they said, will fully enter into force on 1 March.

Radman said the agreement, which constitutes the first of its kind signed by the EU with one of its Central Asian partners, elevates relations between the EU and Kazakhstan to a new level.

Monday's meeting reviewed implementation of the EPCA in several areas including trade and customs, environment and climate change, energy as well as rule of law and judicial cooperation.

Full application of the Agreement will allow for “even closer” cooperation in areas which were not provisionally applied to date, in particular areas which fall under EU member state competence such as Common Foreign and Security Policy, Radman said.

The Cooperation Council, Radman told reporters, also welcomed Kazakhstan's National Strategy towards a Green Economy and its ambitious 2050 energy targets which aim to have 50% of electricity generation from renewables.

The two sides also discussed the importance of good governance, promotion and protection of human rights and cooperation with civil society while the EU welcomed President Tokayev's announcement to introduce a new public-assembly law and other reform steps including simplifying the process for creating political parties.

Kazakhstan's intention to start procedures to join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was also noted.

The EU, said Radman, also greeted Kazakhstan ratification, on 4 January, of its agreement with the Council of Europe on immunities and privileges of the representatives of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the anticorruption monitoring body of the Council of Europe.

In the margins of council, Tileuberdi had a bilateral meeting with the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, where they discussed EU-Kazakhstan relations as well as regional and international developments and cooperation.

The EU is by far Kazakhstan’s first trade partner representing 40% of its external trade. Exports from Kazakhstan in 2018 to the EU totalled €20.8 billion and the import volume from the EU to Kazakhstan €5.8bn in 2018, the briefing was told.

Education is one example of cooperation between the two sides, it was said, particularly the Erasmus programme. The EU is allocating €454.2 million for regional cooperation projects in Central Asia for the 2014-2020 funding period, including €115m for the Erasmus+ programme. Erasmus+ has already offered more than 2,000 short-term scholarships for Kazakh students or staff to study or train in Europe, and nearly 1,000 scholarships for European students to study in Kazakhstan.

Supporting Kazakhstan’s transition to a Green Economy Model (7.1m euros allocated from 2015-2018) is another  EU priority, said, Radman.

EU support  has been important to Kazakhstan’s development since the country’s independence in 1991. Over 350 projects amounting to €180 million have been funded by the EU.

Looking to the future, Radman said the EU looks forward to the first official visit of President Tokayev to Brussels mid-February.