Kazakhstan does not want to be behind the new iron curtain, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan said at the end of March. Reuters reported it on the 28th of March 2022.
By coincidence (?), the Press secretary of the President of Kazakhstan was dismissed from his position on the 29th of March, the next day after the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan said that Kazakhstan does not want to be behind the new iron curtain. Nearly two weeks passed, but the new press-secretary has not been appointed yet. To me this is a clear sign that communications of the top level is not up to the expected level, and it is not easy to fix the problem and to find a suitable candidate for the post of the President’s press-secretary during such a challenging and dramatic time when we live.
On the same day, on 29th of March, interview with Mr Timur Suleimenov, the first deputy chief of staff to the President of Kazakhstan, was published on Euractiv.com. Mr Suleimenov said – “Of course, Russia wanted us to be more on their side. But Kazakhstan respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We did not recognise and will not recognise the Crimea situation and neither the Donbas situation because the UN does not recognise them. We will only respect decisions taken at the level of the United Nations.”
Today, I believe the main question is how Kazakhstan can keep its economy integrated into the global and not just the Russian economy. The answer to this question determines not just the current position of the country but the future of Kazakhstan.
Sergey Stanovkin 