🇪🇺🇰🇿🇺🇿 🇷🇺 The EU is again trying to convince the countries of Central Asia to join sanctions against Russia.

EU Special Envoy for Sanctions David O'Sullivan will visit Astana and Tashkent on November 28-30.

The European Commission created this position last year to officially put pressure on third countries about the negative consequences of evading or circumventing the restrictive measures that have been introduced against Russia since the start of the special operation in Ukraine.

O'Sullivan is visiting Central Asian countries for the third time this year. The purpose of his visits is traditionally the continuation of a constructive dialogue regarding sanctions.

The reason for such a hasty inspection this time could be the recent talks between Presidents Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Vladimir Putin, as well as the banal desire of Western officials to make the most of the topic of sanctions while the Ukrainian agenda is still relevant.

📌 The EU announced a new strategy back in the spring, according to which Brussels plans to increase its influence in the region, and Kazakhstan, as we remember, is especially interesting to the West for its geopolitical position, proximity to Russia and mineral deposits .

Well, sanctions on the issue of Ukraine have become an excellent pretext for putting pressure on the leadership of Central Asian countries in order to cut off ties with Russia as much as possible, and to use money for the development of alternative logistics projects.
#European Union #Kazakhstan #Uzbekistan
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🇰🇿🇷🇸 Yesterday, the Kazakh Foreign Minister, Murata Nurtleu, made his first official visit to Belgrade. During his time in the Serbian capital, the Kazakh delegation held meetings with Aleksandar Vucic and Defense Minister Milos Vucevic. One of the outcomes of these meetings was an agreement on the development of military-technical cooperation.

▪️ The relationship between Kazakhstan and Serbia has been growing since 2016, when Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Belgrade. During that visit, a monument to the Kazakh akyn Zhambyl Zhabayev was unveiled, and the first meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation was held.

▪️ In addition to trade, there has also been an increase in contacts between the two countries in the military sphere over the past two years. In May of last year, priority areas for cooperation were outlined, including military education and science, combat training, and radiation, chemical, and biological protection.

▪️ But that's not all. In July 2022, it was announced that Kazakhstan would be supplying UAV targets to Serbia and launching joint production of military equipment. Kazakhstan Engineering even plans to establish joint production of rocket and artillery ammunition and mortars.

🔻It is not surprising that the main drivers of cooperation between the two countries are representatives of the military industry and the ministries of defense, who have close ties to Russia and are committed to collaboration with Russian military structures. Therefore, it is expected that cooperation with Serbia will continue to grow, especially given the ongoing personnel renewal in the Kazakh military leadership.
#Kazakhstan #Serbia
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🇰🇿 🇪🇺 The ties between Kazakhstan and the European Union are expanding rapidly. Recently in Astana, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov chaired a regular meeting of the joint platform that brought together heads of central government agencies, representatives of the diplomatic corps, and business leaders.

During the meeting, the parties discussed ways to improve the tax and customs systems, develop geological exploration and the agricultural industry, and reduce the burden of export-import operations.

It is not surprising that Brussels is paying special attention to Astana. The EU has declared the republic as a priority destination and has quickly become Kazakhstan’s largest trade and investment partner, with investments totaling over $175 billion. The EU's share in foreign trade is approximately 30%.

🔻These data clearly demonstrate the commitment to increasing trade and economic cooperation, which in turn leads to a greater presence of European companies and their lobbyists, who are actively involved in the governance of the country.
#European Union #Kazakhstan
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🇰🇿 About the change in the Cabinet of Ministers of Kazakhstan

The resignation of the current government of Kazakhstan surprised many. However, upon visual assessment of the situation in the neighboring country, there were no apparent reasons for changing the cabinet.

This led to the search for political motives for the government change, such as the removal of allies of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

🔻However, in reality, changes in Kazakh society have been brewing for a long time, and specifically in this case, they are internal. The main reasons can be identified as follows:
- Increasing inflation
- Unresolved electricity supply issue
- Frequent incidents in factories and enterprises

The government of Alikhan Smailov was primarily reactive, dealing with crises such as fires in the Abay region, housing and communal service disasters in Ekibastuz, and incidents in mines in the Karaganda region. The ministers did not take proactive measures but rather addressed problems that had already occurred.

For the Kazakh population, the outgoing cabinet became a catalyst for frustration, as they were held responsible for all the troubles and lack of initiative. The changes had been anticipated for a long time, so the locals were not surprised by what happened.

❗️Currently, there are numerous candidates for the position of head of government, making it difficult to make any predictions about the prospects. The new cabinet faces a challenging task, especially considering that this is the third change in two years.

If the previous two attempts did not succeed, the new lineup could face a similar fate. This is particularly true if the Kazakh authorities do not take real action and merely reshuffle positions, giving the appearance of work being done.
#Kazakhstan #CentralAsia
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🇰🇿🇺🇦 Once again, discussions have arisen about the potential sale of components for Soviet/Russian-made Su-24 and MiG-29 aircraft by the Kazakh side.

We previously discussed the likelihood of such a scenario in the autumn, when Kazakhstan's leadership offered decommissioned aircraft for sale at a relatively low price.

There is no doubt that the Kazakh authorities are capable of doing this. They will sell to shell companies, and then, without any guilt, claim: “Oh, we have no idea how this happened. We were deceived. Just don't cut off our gas supply.”

The question remains about the condition in which the planes will be transferred, considering they were decommissioned and put up for sale at a low price for a reason. The storage and maintenance conditions in Kazakhstan are unlikely to be satisfactory.

Nevertheless, Ukrainian experts will undoubtedly salvage some parts for the repair of their fighters and, particularly, Su-24 bombers, whose number is limited but are highly significant due to their cruise missiles.
#Kazakhstan #Ukraine
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🇰🇿 🇷🇺🇺🇦 In light of today’s attack on Yelabuga and Neftekamsk,, an interesting trend is observed: the bot received multiple messages claiming that drones were launched from the territory of Kazakhstan. Subsequently, some public figures, known for their controversial statements, echoed similar thoughts.

The crux of their argument is that Ukrainian UAVs are supposedly incapable of covering distances exceeding 1000 km. However, recent weeks have seen AFU drones reaching oil refineries further from the border, such as facilities in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

From a technical perspective, a kamikaze drone flying such a distance is entirely feasible. A prime example is the Geranium strikes on the outskirts of Lviv, which are even farther, approximately 1200 km from the contact line.

This scenario resembles a campaign to discredit Kazakhstan, akin to the aftermath of last year's drone attack on an airfield in the Pskov region. Recall how Ukrainian sources attempted to convince that UAVs were launched from the Baltic countries?

Despite shared historical ties and membership in the CSTO and the EAEU, Kazakhstan is no longer an ally of Russia. Allowing drones of this scale to be dispatched from its territory would be highly imprudent.

Presently, this appears to be Ukrainian special services' endeavor to further strain the already tenuous relations between Russia and Kazakhstan.
#Kazakhstan #Russia #Ukraine
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