EU cements ties with Kazakhstan, bolsters regional stability
Nazarbayev - Barroso - Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) - The EU said Thursday a new political and economic accord with Kazakhstan, a key member of Russia's rival economic bloc, will help bolster security in an unsettled region.
"Kazakhstan is a very important partner," European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso told Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
"Not only in trade and economic exchanges but also for promoting peace and security in the wider region," Barroso said, as the two men marked the conclusion of talks on the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
The accord, three and a half years in the making, is expected to come into effect next year and includes a series of political and economic commitments to boost ties and promote reform in oil-rich Kazakhstan, once ruled from Moscow as a Soviet satellite.
Since the end of the Cold War, Kazakhstan has continued close ties with Russia and in May signed up with Belarus to President Vladimir Putin's Eurasian Economic Union.
However, Nazarbayev has also been careful to maintain some distance from Moscow, stressing relations with China and even hinting recently at some unhappiness with the Russian-led economic bloc.
Ukraine meanwhile in June signed a landmark Association Accord with the European Union, casting its lot firmly with the West despite Putin's best efforts to prevent it.
"We are both very concerned with regard to the events which have occurred in Ukraine," Nazarbayev said.
The president noted that the EU accounted for 50 percent of Kazakhstan's external trade and had proved a reliable partner over many years.
"This agreement will greatly facilitate stronger political, economic and strategic relations as we all as the flow of trade, services and investment," Barroso said.
Senior EU officials said both sides had been careful to take into account Kazakhstan's other commitments, including to the Eurasian Economic Union, during talks on the new accord.
Putin has repeatedly charged that Ukraine's accord and an associated free trade deal with Brussels directly undermines the Russian economy.