On Monday, High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell welcomed the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu on his first official visit to Brussels, to discuss ways to further strengthen relations between the European Union and Kazakhstan. HR/VP Borrell expressed the EU’s firm support to Kazakhstan’s reform and modernisation process.
HR/VP Borrell recalled that EU-Kazakhstan partnership is strong and built on mutual trust, and confirmed the EU’s commitment to develop further the mutually beneficial cooperation on the basis of the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Priority areas of cooperation include sustainable connectivity, green transition, and critical raw materials. The EU is the biggest investor and Kazakhstan’s key trading partner. Enhanced cooperation will aim to improve the investment climate to attract even more European investors to Kazakhstan.
HR/VP Borrell and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Nurtleu also discussed ways to enhance opportunities to develop people-to-people contacts, including in areas such as business or education. In this context, they welcomed the agreement to set up a dialogue on facilitating visa application procedures.
In exchanges about regional and global issues, the HR/VP stressed the damaging consequences of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine on regional stability and security. He appreciated principled position of Kazakhstan based on respect for the UN Charter and for the territorial integrity of all UN members, including Ukraine. In this context, he noted Kazakhstan’s efforts to ensure that its territory is not used to circumvent or undermine European and international sanctions.
The EU and Kazakhstan will continue to work closely together on bilateral and regional level.
