Kazakhstan, European Union sign extended partnership agreement

Kazakhstan and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on extended partnership and cooperation on Monday. The document was signed by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Erlan Idrissov and the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

 

"This was a landmark event for us," which followed several years of hard work done "for unveiling the main spheres of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU in a new light," Idrissov said after the signing ceremony.

 

The agreement covers 29 fields, including economy, trade and investment, justice as well as issues related to security, supremacy of statute law, respect for human rights, protection of personal data. The document is expected to replace the agreement on partnership and cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU now in force, which came into effect on July 1, 1999.

 

The talks on the new agreement officially ended on October 9, 2014. The document is focused on bringing the relations between Kazakhstan and the European Union to a higher level.