25 November 2025
On Monday 24 November 2025, from 3.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. (time of record), Kazakh ambassador Roman Vassilenko outlined at the Press Club Brussels Europe in Brussels how his country steers its course between Russia, China, the European Union and the United States. In the hall at Rue Froissart 95 – 1040 Brussels, journalists, diplomats and policy observers gathered to hear how Kazakhstan looks ahead after ten years of close cooperation with the European Union.
Between Russia and China, with an eye on Europe
Vassilenko recalled that Kazakhstan literally lies between the two largest countries in the world. Russia on one side, China on the other. He linked that geographical reality to a political choice: after more than thirty-five years of independence, his country consciously opts for a balanced, pragmatic course in foreign policy, with the national interest at its core.
He pointed out that Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world in terms of territory, while its population is around twenty million inhabitants. Living next door to giants like China and Russia, he said, teaches a country how important long-term diplomacy is. According to him, Kazakhstan has developed that skill step by step and uses it to create room for its own priorities.
In that context, he noted that in 2024 China became Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, ahead of Russia. At the same time, he described the United States and Europe as indispensable players in his country’s economic development. As the Kazakh economy grows, the relationship with the European Union remains an important lever for Astana. Especially in the field of raw materials, where Kazakhstan has rich reserves, the ambassador sees new opportunities for cooperation with Europe.
Ten years of enhanced partnership with the European Union
The meeting in Brussels focused on ten years of the EU–Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, a broad cooperation agreement that covers several policy areas. Vassilenko said he wanted to develop three main lines: taking stock of the first ten years, identifying new drivers for economic cooperation and looking ahead to priorities in the fields of security, digitalisation and the green transition.
He recalled that Kazakhstan was the first country in Central Asia at the time to sign and ratify such a broad agreement with the European Union. The arrangement extends across twenty-nine areas and, in his view, provides a solid framework for the day-to-day work between Brussels and Astana. Today, the European Union is the leading trading partner and investor in the Kazakh economy.
Alongside trade and investment, there is, according to the ambassador, a lively political dialogue on topics such as climate change and regional security. Next week, the twenty-second EU–Kazakh cooperation council will meet in Brussels. That meeting is intended to review the implementation of the agreement and adjust the rapidly expanding agenda where needed.
Trade, energy and raw materials as backbone
According to Vassilenko, the economic relationship between Kazakhstan and the European Union remains remarkably robust despite turbulence in the global economy. Trade between the two sides amounted to around fifty billion dollars in 2024. Kazakhstan accounts for roughly ninety percent of the trade between the European Union and Central Asia.
Since independence, the European Union has invested an estimated two hundred billion dollars in the Kazakh economy. Around four thousand European companies are currently active there. The ambassador indicated that Kazakhstan is focusing in particular on better access to the European market for agricultural products, alongside the more traditional export of raw materials and energy.
On energy, he cited concrete figures. Kazakhstan supplies about thirteen percent of Europe’s oil consumption and sixteen percent of the European demand for uranium. This, he said, makes the country a stable pillar in the European energy mix. In Brussels he stressed that Kazakhstan sees itself as a reliable partner that aims to play a predictable role in the continent’s energy supply.
The Middle Corridor as a bridge between east and west
A large part of his speech was devoted to the so-called Middle Corridor, the transport route that links Europe with Central Asia and beyond via Kazakhstan. Vassilenko described this corridor as a strategic route whose importance will only increase in the years to come.
According to him, Kazakhstan wants to develop into a transit country that brings east and west closer together by rail, road and air. He sketched out plans for thirteen new transport corridors, thirteen thousand kilometres of additional motorways, extra air links and five railway lines designed to support freight traffic between Europe and Central Asia.
Digital development is part of this. The ambassador spoke of the ambition to turn Kazakhstan into a fully digital state, with modern infrastructure and digital services reinforcing one another. He stated that the Middle Corridor is already showing strong growth figures: freight volume, he said, has risen by sixty-two percent year on year. By 2028, his country aims for a capacity of around ten million tonnes per year.
He also pointed out that Kazakhstan possesses a large share of the raw materials recognised worldwide as strategic: twenty-one of the thirty-four elements regarded as crucial are found in the country. In this, he sees new opportunities for close cooperation with Europe on supplies of these materials, including for the energy transition.
Connectivity, visa policy and human contacts
Vassilenko linked logistics and diplomacy by stating that better connections also contribute to greater stability. In his view, the Middle Corridor is not only about rails, roads and ports, but also about exchanges between people. He argued for faster implementation of planned projects, both regarding hard infrastructure and softer measures, for example on regulations and procedures agreed in 2023.
Kazakhstan, he said, remains ready to work with the European Union so that the Middle Corridor can grow into a sustainable artery for regional trade. At the political level he referred to intensive inter-parliamentary contacts, together with cooperation on education, culture and academic work. Such initiatives, in his view, should further support the partnership.
One concrete example he mentioned is the European intention to ease the visa regime for Kazakh citizens. He described this as an important step for travellers, students and business contacts.
A mature partnership with an eye on the next ten years
The ambassador also outlined how Kazakhstan positions itself in worldwide debates on ongoing wars and international crises. He spoke of a consistent political line and values that, in his view, have earned his country respect. Cooperation with Western countries, including the European Union, remains of great importance, but, according to Vassilenko, is linked to the ambition to turn Kazakhstan into a prosperous country.
At the end of his address he summed up the relationship between Kazakhstan and the European Union as a mature and self-confident partnership, based on shared values and mutual interests. He expressed the hope that both sides will continue to work together in the next ten years on concrete results and human contact that sustains that partnership. In this way, Kazakhstan wants to build on ten years of enhanced cooperation while at the same time looking ahead to new forms of cooperation with Europe.
A clear signal could be heard in Brussels: between Russia and China, Kazakhstan is actively seeking a firm anchor in the European Union without letting go of other partners.
Sources:
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Kingdom of Belgium
Press briefing “Kazakhstan — EU: Where Next After 10 Years of Enhanced Partnership?” at Press Club Brussels Europe
Statement and explanation by ambassador Roman Vassilenko during the debate in Brussels
Andy Vermaut +32499357495