Alberto Rubio
The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Spain, Konstantin Zhigalov, stressed on Friday, during a reception to commemorate its National Day, that his country continues to play an important role in world energy policy.
Zhigalov recalled that Kazakhstan is a strategic partner of the European Union and the fourth largest oil supplier, as well as the seventh largest grain producer in the world.
“In a context of unprecedented geopolitical tensions,” he said, “we adhere to the fundamental principles of a peaceful and constructive foreign policy“, while stressing the “tangible progress in the democratisation of the country following the adoption of a comprehensive package of constitutional amendments”.
To underline his country’s international role, he said that in the last two months, in addition to hosting several multilateral summits, Pope Francis, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping, among others, have visited Kazakhstan.
Representing the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the deputy director general for Central Asia, Gabriel Cremades, said that “we applaud Kazakhstan’s position in favour of respecting and applying international law and its most essential principles, such as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states”, in a clear reference to the “illegal and unjustified aggression against Ukraine”, to which he assured that “we also welcome Kazakhstan’s decision not to recognise the sham referendums organised by the Russian authorities in the occupied Ukrainian regions”.
In a quick review of relations with Spain, Zhigalov affirmed that “in these 30 years we have achieved a great deal, as shown by the fact that three presidents of the Spanish government have visited Kazakhstan, while President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Spain in March 1994″.
Looking to the future, he said he was convinced of being able to further deepen the “very dynamic” political, economic and cultural relations with Spain. “Next year we are expecting the visit of Minister José Manuel Albares to Nur-Sultan, the meeting of the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission and the meeting of the Kazakhstan-Spain Business Council”, in addition to strengthening its presence in different Spanish regions, such as Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, where honorary consuls from the Central Asian country have recently been appointed.
