Brussels, 24/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 24 July, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Yerbol Orynbayev announced that the fourth round of negotiations on the new partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) would take place in Astana in “early October”.
Orynbayev said that his country hoped to move talks with the EU forward in qualitative terms (see EUROPE 10858). “Our mutual interest lies in improving bilateral cooperation. The Kazakhstan-EU relationship is rich in potential (…). We have demonstrated a mutual interest in a PCA as soon as possible, which would add accountability to our relationship”, added Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius following the 13th EU-Kazakhstan cooperation council.
Linkevicius explained that the EU and Kazakhstan were to continue their discussions on human rights, the rule of law and the reform of the legal and judicial system. He stressed the importance of trade and economic exchange between the EU and Astana. The EU is the largest investor in Kazakhstan which, as a producer of oil, is a “reliable energy partner” of the EU.
Orynbayev also stressed cooperation in the fields of aviation, transport, new technologies and energy. The ministers also discussed the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, environmental and water issues and the EU's strategy in Central Asia.
Over lunch, the ministers discussed the case of Alma Chalabaieva, the wife of the political dissident Moukhtar Abliazov, who was expelled from Italy to Kazakhstan in May. The case has caused a political scandal in Italy. According to the Lithuanian minister, the EU and its delegation in Astana are following the situation closely. For his part, the Kazakh minister said that his country was ready, under certain conditions, to send Chalabaieva back to Italy (CG/transl.fl)