Carlos Uriarte Sánchez
Professor of Law at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world in terms of territorial extension, and is located in Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and west, and China to the east. Both Russian and Kazakh are considered official languages. The predominant religion is Muslim, followed by Orthodox Christianity.
On August 30, 1995, Kazakhstan adopted its constitution, thus establishing a unitary republic with a presidential regime. Kazakhstan became the last of the former Soviet republics in 1991. Since then, its form of government has been based on a presidential republic, potentially centralized. It should be noted that the Baikonur Cosmodrome as well as its facilities are leased to Russia until 2050.
In January 2022, revolts aimed at a change in leadership took place in Kazakhstan, the territorial integrity of the country was endangered, but the terrorists and coup plotters were resoundingly repelled. Although investigations into the events of the so-called “Tragic January” continue, the situation was fully brought under control and constitutional order was maintained under the authority of the current President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Yomart Tokayev, who on March 16, 2022 delivered a speech – “New Kazakhstan: The Path of Renewal and Modernization”-to the Kazakh parliament in which he outlined ten initiatives for political reform, including making presidential powers less presidentialistic; improvements in the electoral system; promotion of a real multiparty system; strengthening institutions that uphold human rights; and a greater role for the media and civil society institutions.
On February 11, 1992, Spain and Kazakhstan established their first diplomatic relations through a joint declaration signed in Moscow. From the beginning, the harmony between King Juan Carlos I and the first president of Kazakhstan and “Elbassy” (head of the nation), Nursultan Nazarbayev, was great.
In 1999 Spain opened its first embassy in the country, at the same time that Kazakhstan opened its first embassy in Madrid. Since then the relations between the two states have been very good, as there has never been any incident, and we lack historical background which makes us able to maintain a perfect relationship between two friendly countries.
In 2009, Spain and Kazakhstan signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement. This agreement strengthens relations between the two countries and further consolidates diplomatic relations. Among other measures carried out in that agreement, we highlight the regular flow of high-level contacts between the two countries, and the existence of a joint commission on Economic and Industrial Cooperation, which meets every two years at the level of secretaries of state for trade, and its last edition took place in 2018, in Nur-Sultan.
At the level of heads of state and government it is worth mentioning the visit of HM King Felipe VI on June 9 and 10, 2017, to attend the opening of Expo Astana 2017, in that visit he held a meeting with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan at that time Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kazakhstan is a state with great economic resources and a partner of great importance for Spain, as it is a notable oil supplier with a total of 7%. The data reflect that the trade balance is negative for Spain, which was Kazakhstan’s ninth best customer in 2019 but whose exports have been massively reduced.
It should be noted that Kazakhstan has agreements of a cultural nature with Spain, such as the Agreement on Cultural, Educational, and Scientific Cooperation, signed in 1997. It also has agreements of a consular nature, signed in 2009 in Madrid, the agreement on the reciprocal suppression of visas in diplomatic passports, or others such as the agreement for cooperation to combat crime, or the extradition treaty.
Both nations have reached non-regulatory agreements due to their excellent relationship in tourism, education, military cooperation, trade and investment.
In short, bilateral relations between our two countries are excellent at the political and economic level, but the margins for improvement are very wide in all fields. It would be very convenient to have direct flights between Spain and Kazakhstan and this would contribute, coinciding with the end of the pandemic, to reactivate tourism and boost bilateral relations. Inter-parliamentary relations could also be further strengthened.
In the current international context Kazakhstan can be an opportunity to have a partner, not only for Spain but also for the rest of the European Union.
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