/ world today news/ The Kazakh authorities assure that they are carefully countering the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions in their country. These words followed immediately after a visit to Astana by a representative of the US Treasury Department. At the same time, a special study dedicated to “reducing Kazakhstan‘s dependence on Russia” was published in the EU. What exactly is the West already doing about it and what is it planning to do more?
“We fully comply with the requirements set by the regulators, as well as the requirements set by the relevant external correspondent banks for our banks.” On April 26, Madina Abilkasimova, Chairperson of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of Kazakhstan, commented with these words on the visit to Astana of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Rosenberg on April 26. The authorities of Kazakhstan are taking all necessary measures not to help circumvent Western sanctions against Russia.
The fact that these measures had to be taken was exactly what Rosenberg had to convey to the Kazakh authorities. “The risk is increasing both in relation to the Republic of Kazakhstan and in relation to Kazakh companies and Kazakh banks. We are partnering with our Kazakh counterparts to clarify these risks as well as the implications that could come from helping the Russian Federation avoid sanctions and export controls,” she said.
The introduction of sanctions against the countries of Central Asia to circumvent the anti-Russian sanctions of the West is also being considered by the European Union. At the end of March, it was reported that the EU leadership is preparing a certain document, the purpose of which is to “send a clear signal to individuals and legal entities in third countries. Material support for the Russian military and defense industry will have serious consequences affecting their access to the EU market. And by “third countries” they mean primarily the countries of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan as Russia’s closest partner in the region.
Balance and accuracy
Of course, there is an understandable ambivalence about Russia in Kazakhstan’s politics. Kazakhstan enters a trade union with Russia. Almost all of Kazakhstan’s oil is exported through the territory of Russia – the country’s main export commodity. There is no doubt that it was the Russian military intervention that prevented the coup d’état that almost happened in Kazakhstan in January 2022. Both countries are members of the CSTO, the EAEU and the SCO.
Astana certainly takes all of this into account. Even after February 2022, a lot of good-neighborly rhetoric sounds against Russia. “The removal of all restrictions and the creation of mutually beneficial conditions in trade is, of course, the key to the qualitative economic growth of our countries,” said President Kassim-Jomart Tokayev, speaking last November at the video conference of the Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. And he added that “according to the WTO, the most developed countries in the world have accelerated the pace of imposing export restrictions in the last six months – against this background, cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, fortunately, differs from global trends.”
As noted on the website of the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan, in trade and economic relations between Russia and Kazakhstan, the most active and large-scale cooperation is in the fuel-energy and mining-metallurgical complex, agriculture, transport and communications, automotive, engineering, manufacturing, chemical and space industry.
According to the website of the President of Kazakhstan, 18.85% of the country’s population are Russians. The Russian language has the status of an official language in the country and can be used on an equal footing with Kazakh in state organizations and local authorities.
Thus, Kazakhstan carefully balances, trying not to spoil its relations with any of the countries on which it depends – neither with Moscow, nor with Brussels, nor with Washington. However, the West is making increasingly persistent attempts to separate Kazakhstan from its good neighborliness with Russia – and is more than openly stating this. This is confirmed by a document recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations.
„Careful steps to reduce dependence on Russia”
“Some political scientists considered the intervention of the CSTO (in January 2022) as a prelude to a closer rapprochement between Kazakhstan and Russia, which in the future will put an end to the multi-vector foreign policy. But the balanced position of the Kazakh authorities after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given rise to some hope in the West that the country is distancing itself from Russia,” the ECJ report said.
Thus, Europe, in the face of its experts, frankly admits that it directly hopes for the disruption of any integration projects in the post-Soviet space. Previously, these subversive actions were successfully implemented in Ukraine, unsuccessfully in Belarus – and now they are aimed at another of Moscow’s closest allies, Kazakhstan.
EU analysts argue that “the conflict in Ukraine has had a significant impact on Kazakh society, changing the geopolitical position of the country and accelerating the shift in the understanding of many Kazakhs that they are not Russia. The geopolitical uncertainty caused by the conflict explains why Kazakhstan is taking very cautious steps to reduce its dependence on Russia.
The EU accounts for almost half (48%) of all foreign direct investment in the country, according to the portal of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan. Therefore, it is understandable not only the great attention that the Union shows to the events taking place in this Central Asian country, but also the desire to influence them.
Multi-vectority by Kazakh
In 2022, the government of Kazakhstan developed contacts not only with Russia, but also with other partners, including China. This confirms the thesis propagated by the “New York Times” that Central Asia is the arena of the “big game” of the great world powers.
Western analysts are drawing attention to the fact that Chinese leader Xi Jinping made his first foreign visit since the COVID-19 pandemic in Astana. Strengthening the interaction between the Kyrgyz Republic and China should alienate Kazakhstan from Russia, the ECJ believes.
However, reality does not justify the hopes of the Europeans: Kazakhstan not only maintains relations with Moscow, but also strengthens its ties with Turkey, as well as with the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian region, including Iran and other countries of the Persian region. Bay. Tokaev visited Qatar in June 2022, Saudi Arabia in July 2022, and the United Arab Emirates in January 2023. In some episodes, such as in the case of Turkey, Tokaev “agreed to both broad-based security cooperation and and on cooperation in the military-industrial sphere, including the production of Turkish drones in Kazakhstan and the exchange of intelligence data. “
Europe is greatly strained by the fact that Russian-Kazakhstan relations are not some trifle in the Central Asian region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a recent meeting in Moscow with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, noted: “Moscow and Astana are united in the fact that the Russian-Kazakhstan alliance, including within the framework of the CSTO, is an important factor in maintaining stability in Central Asia, generally contributes to the strengthening of common Eurasian security”.
“Eurasia has a great future, especially at the current stage, when the center of development of the world economy and trade has shifted here to the eastern part of the Eurasian continent. These objective comparative advantages must be used for the mutual benefit of all organizations and all countries located here,” he added.
Sergey Viktorovich pointed out the North-South transport corridor as one of the priorities. “This project is currently being actively implemented. After its completion, a stable, operational, fast connection between the Baltic Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean will be provided, which will significantly reduce the cost of trade on the large Eurasian continent.
This is precisely what the European “partners” do not like. To separate Kazakhstan from Russia means to topple one of the main pillars on which the Eurasian economy rests, and therefore to bring many additional problems to the Russian Federation. Europeans are willing to put up with higher prices if only Russia feels bad about it.
„Increase your influence”
According to Western experts, when developing its policy towards Kazakhstan, the EU must avoid two main pitfalls. First, “one should not overestimate the desire of the government of Kazakhstan to distance itself from Russia”: even if Astana is ready to do this, there are a number of objective factors that force it to pursue an extremely balanced policy. Kazakhstan, European analysts write, should not be forced to make decisions that could threaten its own stability.
Second, the experts write: “The EU should not look at Kazakhstan only through the prism of the competition of the great powers. It would be a mistake for the EU to think that the country will fall completely under China’s influence if Russia’s influence declines. Kazakhstan has economic potential and uses it to develop international partnerships. This means that the EU (as well as the PRC, among others) is only one of many possible partners of the Republic, and in order to gain advantages over others, it must develop and increase its influence.
The ECJ’s action plan for the EU looks like a warning to Russia at the same time. And he who is warned is armed.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel or in Telegram:
#West #stepping #efforts #destroy #relations #Russia #Kazakhstan
