DISINFO: The EU is buying up Kazakhstan
SUMMARY
In early 2024, Josep Borrell, the head of the EU's foreign service, who had previously described Central Asia as "some backwater," recently referred to the region as a crucial bridge between Europe and Asia. This shift in rhetoric is due to the failure of European sanctions to significantly weaken Russia's military-industrial complex. As a result, Borrell now views Central Asian countries as important partners for Europe.
The transfer of Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea ports to foreign corporations, the management of over 20 airports by European investors, the rapid privatisation of rare earth metal deposits for Western interests, and the EU's planned $40 billion investment in Kazakhstan's transport system over the next five years all indicate increasing European influence. Similarly, in Ukraine, the sale of sea ports, airports, roads, and other infrastructure to EU interests has been underway even before February 2022.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the belligerent West trying to push Russia out of Central Asia, made in the context of measures being taken to enforce the sanctions on Russia imposed by the EU in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Political, economic, cultural, trade, military, and security partnerships between Kazakhstan and the EU aim to foster mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, not to counter Russia or any other nation. The EU-Central Asia strategy focuses on regional cooperation, resilience, and prosperity, highlighted during the Astana meeting on October 27, 2022, where leaders committed to fully implement the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and new EU initiatives for Central Asia.
Transportation is a key cooperation area, with Kazakhstan modernising its infrastructure and seeking European investment. At the Global Gateway Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity on January 29-30, 2024, it was announced that €10 billion would be invested in sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia, crucial for regional integration and economic growth.
In his speech at the Investors’ Forum High Representative of the EU Joseph Borrell emphasised that cooperation between EU and Central Asia partners has to be increased to address global challenges and increase economic security. This disinformation claim is a distortion of Borrell’s statement:
“You know that in order to defend these [the UN core] principles, the European Union has imposed substantial sanctions against Russia, which have significantly weakened its war machine. But still, they are there, and the war continues. And in order for these sanctions to be effective, we need full cooperation from our partners.”.
At the inaugural Global Gateway Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Connectivity European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said that EU-Central Asia cooperation is "about much more than finance":
“… we also be exchanging expertise, sharing knowledge, facilitating the work and dividing labour between international public and private investors. It will be about finding the best ways to deliver the required soft and hard investments, as well as technical assistance. And it will be about our joint ambitions and turning them into reality - together.”
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