Crossroads Asia | Diplomacy | Central Asia

EU-Kazakhstan: Connectivity at the Core

Amid Kazakhstan and the European Union’s multifaceted relations, connectivity remains a throughline.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid an official visit to the seat of the European Union in Brussels this week, meeting with President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Kazakhstan walked away with around 10 billion euro in commercial deals.

Tokayev had published an article immediately before his visit to Brussels with Euronews, laying out his framing of the EU-Kazakhstan relationship. Last year, the two sides marked a decade since the signing of their Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA). In setting the ambition for “building the next chapter of a strategic partnership,” in his article Tokayev sketched out three strategic goals: “1) strengthening resilience, 2) expanding connectivity of all kinds, and 3) creating new opportunities for citizens.”

“Geography and power are making a comeback,” Tokayev proclaimed, as if geography and power ever went away in international relations. The article highlighted Kazakhstan’s economic strength; the importance of energy security and energy interdependence in the EU-Kazakhstan relationship; connectivity, namely the Middle Corridor; AI, digital governance and innovation; and education.

(A brief aside: The Kazakh president pre-empting his own international trips with a publication to set the narrative is becoming something of a trend. In February, just as Tokayev was headed to Washington, D.C., he published an op-ed with The National Interest, pledging Kazakhstan as a “reliable” partner for the United States.)

It’s the connectivity piece that suffused the closing joint statement, and that underlines many of the governmental and commercial deals.

“Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole, is a natural global gateway,” von der Leyen wrote on X.

As Europe is keen to reiterate, the EU is “Kazakhstan’s leading trade and investment partner.” According to the Council of Europe, the EU is the destination for 37 percent of all Kazakh exports, making it Astana’s biggest overall trading partner. The bulk of these exports are oil and uranium.

Under the Global Gateway strategy for Central Asia, investment and cooperation has deepened across an array of sectors, from critical minerals to energy to transport. The joint statement fronted the importance of the  Trans-Caspian International Transport Route – better known as the Middle Corridor – and positioned Kazakhstan as key to critical minerals and energy........

© The Diplomat