Head of State holds telephone talks with President of European Council

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has held a telephone conversation with President of the European Council Charles Michel, Kazinform reports with the reference to the press service of Akorda.

The interlocutors have discussed the situation associated with the spread of coronavirus infection in the world and joint measures to eliminate its consequences. In particular, Charles Michel praised the practical actions and decisions of the President of Kazakhstan to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the country.

According to his words, Kazakhstan is an extremely important partner of the EU in Central Asia. In this regard, the participation of Kazakhstan in international and regional efforts in the fight against coronavirus is of great importance and is fully supported by Brussels. Charles Michel highlighted the anti-crisis measures undertaken by the President of Kazakhstan aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses, providing employment and fulfilling social obligations to the population.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan is taking decisive steps to ensure the socio-economic stability of the state. During the conversation, the President of Kazakhstan informed the EU representative about the results of telephone conversations with the leaders of Russia, China and several Central Asian countries on countering the pandemic. In addition, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed support for the initiative of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres to promote a humanitarian plan to fight against coronavirus including attracting international funding ($ 5 trillion) to help the most vulnerable countries in the world. In addition, the parties exchanged views on the current state and prospects for the development of the Kazakh-European relations including the implementation of the new Agreement on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation «Kazakhstan – European Union».

The Head of State emphasized that the document lays a solid foundation for further strengthening the political dialogue and building up mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation. At the end of the negotiations, the interlocutors focused on pressing issues of the regional and global agenda. In particular, Charles Michel enquired about the prospects for conducting inter-Syrian negotiations within the framework of the Astana format. For his part, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev confirmed Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide a platform for the next round of negotiations which complement the Geneva process on for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria. The telephone conversation was initiated by the European side.