Kazakhstan-EU political and trade-economic coop discussed in Brussels
From the Kazakh side the delegation was led by Majilis Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs, Defense and Security Maulen Ashimbayev and the European side was headed by Iveta Grigule, Chair of the EP Delegation for cooperation with Central Asian countries.
The meeting discussed the issues of enhancing interaction under the international and bilateral agendas.
“We have discussed the problems of the Middle East, the situation in Syria and the contribution of Kazakhstan to the solution of the Syrian crisis. We have discussed also the situation in Iraq as well as fight with terrorism and extremism. We have proposed to unite the efforts of European countries and Kazakhstan to solve these problems,” said Maulen Ashimbayev after the meeting.
He added that the parliamentarians “exchanged views on the situation and existing problems in Central Asia” as well as “on the areas where the European Union may contribute to.”
It was noted that since the last meeting of the Committee in Brussels in September 2015, the relations between Kazakhstan and the European Union have moved to a brand new level.
Special attention was given to the trade-economic cooperation.
“The European parliamentarians see the potential of Kazakhstan economy. Chinese market has also become available for Kazakhstan today. In this regard, we need to establish joint enterprises in Kazakhstan for trading with China and Russia,” Ashimbayev added.
The meeting participants stressed also the importance of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee as a platform for exchange of views on the urgent aspects of the Kazakh-EU relations. The sides welcomed successful beginning of temporary application of the Kazakhstan-EU Extended Partnership Agreement since May 1, 2016 and expressed hope that the EU member-states and the EU will finish all ratification procedures as soon as possible.
“The process of ratification of the Kazakhstan-EU Extended Partnership Agreement is underway now. There are 28 member-countries of the European Union that is why this process requires certain time. I have promised my colleagues from the Majilis that our delegation will closely interact with the deputies of those EU countries which have not ratified the document yet,” said Iveta Grigule.
The meeting discussed also the possibility of simplifying EU’s visa regime for Kazakhstani citizens.
According to Kazakhstani parliamentarians, Astana took unilateral measures to ease visa regime for Europeans and now actively works to bring the national migration and visa issuing legislation into compliance with the EU requirements.
“It is easier for Kazakhstan to abolish visa regime. The EU consists of 28 countries and we need their common consent to take such a decision. This issue is being discussed now,” noted Iveta Grigule.
The sides expressed also interest in joint settlement of the issues of ensuring security, stability and sustainable development in Central Asia.
In this context, the parliamentarians confirmed the importance of strengthening the EU-CA High-Level Dialogue for Security and increasing its role in search for common approaches of the EU-CA in countering new challenges and threats.
A joint declaration was adopted after the meeting.