ASTANA: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the Kazakh law ratifying the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Aug. 5.
According to AKIpress, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified the agreement on the Kyrgyz Republic’s entry into the organisation on July 13 and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ratified it on July 24.
On July 27, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev told Russian news agency TASS that Kyrgyzstan would open its customs borders to other EAEU member states soon. “I know that Nazarbayev supports these plans,” he said.
Officials in both Astana and Bishkek announced that Nazarbayev and Atambayev will together observe via a live video link the removal of customs checkpoints between the two countries on Aug. 12. The removal of customs control is one of the key components of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union which focuses on promoting the so-called four freedoms of movement of goods, services, capital and workforce.
The meeting with Atambayev is to take place during Nazarbayev’s two-day working visit to the neighbouring country on Aug. 11-12. Their talks will focus on “a number of concrete issues of cooperation in areas of investment and industry, road construction, tourism and the use of resources of trans-border rivers,” Dauren Abayev, the press secretary for President Nazarbayev, told Kazinform on Aug. 11.
“The removal of customs controls on the border with Kyrgyzstan is an important stage in the development of an integration initiative launched by Nursultan Nazarbayev more than 20 years ago,” Abayev said referring to the proposal, first put forward in 1994, to create a Eurasian Union. “This is an event we have all been waiting for and it has a strategic significance for our head of state. The expansion of geography of the common market should be primarily beneficial for the well-being of citizens of our countries.”
He also commented on the assistance Kazakhstan provided to Kyrgyzstan during the process of its accession to the EAEU.
“In his foreign policy, Nursultan Nazarbayev has always prioritised the well-being of the entire region of Central Asia,” he said. “By providing assistance to our neighbours, we are creating beneficial environment for our own development. That is why throughout the preparatory period Kazakhstan has helped the brotherly nation in issues of joining the common market. Consultations took place on technical and methodological issues, and significant financial assistance was provided. Further painless integration of the Kyrgyz economy into the EAEU fully meets Kazakhstan’s national interests.”
