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Journalist

Andrei Matveev is a journalist from Kazakhstan.

Articles

Diplomatic Renaissance: How Tokayev’s Visit to Mongolia Went

The recent state visit by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Mongolia, the first by a Kazakh president in 16 years, demonstrated an excellent approach to expanding Astana's strategic ties. After all, despite 32 years of diplomatic relations and a relatively extensive Kazakh diaspora in Mongolia, under the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Astana's ties with Ulaanbaatar were essentially put on hold. This pause in relations likely arose due to Mongolia's political reputation in the region. Protests often erupt in the country, sometimes becoming particularly violent. In 2008, when the Kazakh authorities justified their failures in the economy with the outbreak of the global economic crisis, a state of emergency was imposed in Mongolia for four days in July. The reason was violent opposition protests against the results of the parliamentary elections. Protesters smashed the headquarters of the ruling party and set fire to several buildings in the center of Ulaanbaatar, killing five people and injuring 300. For Mongolia, with its population of 3.4 million, this was a significant shock, as it was for its neighbors in the Eurasian region, where three leaders fell between 2003 and 2005 -- Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia, Leonid Kuchma in Ukraine, and Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. All this was declared in the region as an “export of revolutions,” building around this notion, a conspiracy theory about the machinations of the U.S. State Department and George Soros. Tokayev's state visit to Mongolia 16 years after Nursultan Nazarbayev refers to the Kazakh leader's key idea about the renaissance of Central Asia. Mongolia is no stranger to the region in one way or another. The main thing for Kazakhstan is the strong Kazakh diaspora, which exceeds 117,000 people. This is the largest national minority in Mongolia and the second largest ethnic group after the titular one. A Kazakh newspaper is published in Mongolia, some Kazakh TV channels are shown on television, and there is an hour of radio news in Kazakh. In short, the basis for strengthening relations is powerful. Tokayev and the president of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, who received him, spoke in both narrow and extended formats about reaching the level of strategic partnership. Tokayev and Khurelsukh, even before the one-on-one meeting, had revitalized diplomatic and trade ties between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Data from the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan provides evidence. Since 2017, there has been a steady decline in trade turnover between the countries. In 2017, its level was $74.8 million; in 2018 - $67.4 million; in 2019 - $59.9 million. In 2020, it fell to $29.3 million. COVID restrictions can explain such a sharp drop. In 2021, the turnover reached almost $61 million, but at the end of 2023, the trade volume jumped to $150 million. Therefore, when Tokayev said at a joint press briefing that he and the Mongolian president had agreed to turn over $500 million in the “foreseeable future,” this did not seem overly optimistic. The Kazakh delegation did not come empty-handed; during Tokayev's visit, the parties...

3 days ago

Kazakhstan’s Strategic Stand: Navigating BRICS Amidst Geopolitical Tensions

In recent days, BRICS - an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE - has become one of the most critical topics on the Eurasian region's information agenda. Russian propaganda has presented the BRICS summit, which is taking place in Kazan, as a global event. However, the press secretary of Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has stated that the republic has no plans to apply for BRICS membership in the foreseeable future, which has caused an adverse reaction in the Russian media, and led to a seemingly retaliatory Russian ban on Kazakhstan's agro-products. The Kazakhstani side, represented by the expert community, has tried to explain that its reasoning is based not only on Astana's national interest, but also on its obligations to its partners in Central Asia. Perhaps the most convincing argument is that the C5+1 mechanism is effective as a format for the region's interactions with the outside world. Therefore, it is not worth breaking this mechanism. No Central Asian country besides Kazakhstan has been invited to join BRICS, but Astana cannot afford to damage the established alliance by creating the conditions for distrust from its neighbors; Central Asia has already gone through a period of distrust. At the same time, rejecting the idea of joining BRICS, where India, Russia, Brazil and China are the founding members, does not unduly affect Kazakhstan's interactions with these powers. Kazakhstan works with China and Russia within the framework of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union), and has signed multiple partnership and alliance agreements with Beijing and Moscow. In other words, the information hysteria that Kazakhstan will exit Russia's sphere tomorrow and join the "Global West" (a term used in the Russian media) has no basis in reality. At the same time, however, it is evident that most Central Asian countries are trying to distance themselves from Russia as much as possible, maintaining cooperation only along certain economic lines. Even banks in Kyrgyzstan, a republic maximally dependent on Moscow on several essential issues, have stopped working with Russian banks. The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, meanwhile, recently announced the end of cooperation with the sanctioned Moscow Stock Exchange. Moreover, Rosselkhoznadzor's ban on imports of a wide range of agro-industrial products from Kazakhstan, if not a response to the refusal to join the BRICS, clearly hints that behind the scenes, economic relations between Astana and Moscow are not all that smooth. Another argument against joining BRICS was voiced not just within Kazakhstan, but also by Russian experts. Despite the organization's purportedly representative nature, which includes countries with a combined population of 3.5 billion people (45% of the Earth's population), the association has no structure. Russian analysts opposed to the Kremlin believe that BRICS is a club where one can come, sabre-rattle at the West, conclude bilateral agreements, and forget about everything until the next summit. No coordinating center monitors the implementation of any agreements reached. BRICS was conceived as an intercontinental organization, uniting similar economies in volume and GDP. Thus, it initially included Brazil, representing...

1 week ago

Kazakhstan Enters Era of Peaceful Nuclear Energy

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's bet on a referendum to secure citizens' consent to construct a nuclear power plant has worked. The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan announced the final results of the referendum held last Sunday, in which 63,66% of citizens eligible to vote showed up at the polling stations. 71.12 % answered “Yes” to the question on the ballot paper about consent to constructing the nuclear power plant. Organizations engaged in sociological surveys of voters at the exit polls announced similar results on Sunday night and Monday. “The exit poll of the Institute of Complex Social Studies - Astana (SOCIS-A) called the referendum participants' decision to favor the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan. 'For' voted 69.8%, ‘Against’ - 30.2%. Similar figures were shown by the Institute of Eurasian Integration exit poll ('For' - 71.8%, 'Against' - 28.2%). According to the Institute of Public Policy of the Amanat party, 72.3% of referendum participants voted in favor of the NPP construction. In comparison, 27.7% voted against,” Kazakhstani political analyst Eduard Poletayev said on his Facebook account. His colleague Daniyar Ashimbayev, commenting on the exit poll data, emphasized that Kazakhstanis have managed to overcome old phobias related to Chernobyl and tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, as well as “enemy propaganda.” By 'propaganda', he means the agitation work of opponents to NPP construction. [caption id="attachment_24131" align="alignnone" width="300"] @ТСА/Kubaizhanov[/caption] “For many years, projects to return to nuclear energy were discussed, but there was always a lack of political will, and powerful foreign pressure prevented the decision necessary for the country. And even now, during the campaign period, we have seen the active work of propagandists paid from abroad to not only disrupt the plans for the construction of nuclear power plants but also to try to destabilize the situation in the country,” said Ashimbayev. Ashimbayev implies that the United States is putting sticks in the wheels of the development of Kazakhstan's nuclear industry. And the point here is not that American nuclear corporations were left off the shortlist, which Kazakhstan is considering, but in the usual policy of containment. Not Kazakhstan, of course, but Russia and China - Washington's main geopolitical rivals and competitors. Realizing this, Tokayev, after voting in the referendum and answering journalists' questions afterward, said that he would like the NPP to be built by an international consortium, presumably from the companies of those countries that were on the shortlist: Russia, China, South Korea, and France. “This is not an easy question. The government should engage in analysis and conduct appropriate negotiations. My vision for this issue is for an international consortium to work in Kazakhstan, consisting of global companies with the most advanced technologies. Further, as they say, life will show,” Tokayev said. Kazakhstan has turned another significant page in its history. In 400 days of discussing nuclear power plants - how long it took from when Tokayev first mentioned atomic power to the end of the campaign period - the president's team has managed the...

4 weeks ago

Navigating Diplomacy: Central Asia’s Strategic Balancing Act Amid Middle East Tensions

The five Central Asian republics are actively building ties with the outside world, trying to balance the influence of China and Russia in the region. For the former Soviet republics, the Middle East was, until recently, a kind of terra incognita since Moscow carried out all contacts with the area. However, since the nineties, thanks to a growing friendship with Turkey, Kazakhstan, followed by other Central Asian republics, have begun establishing diplomatic, cultural, and trade ties with the Middle East and North African countries. Another escalation in the Middle East has forced the diplomatic departments of the Central Asian countries, whilst avoiding any accusations against either side in the conflict, to inform their citizens about and the address the fate of their compatriots who have found themselves at the epicenter of events. Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan, law enforcement agencies reacted before diplomats. Shyngys Alekeshev, head of the Interior Ministry's Information Policy Department, said in response to journalists' inquiries that police in the republic have brought their patrol routes closer to synagogues and Israeli diplomatic facilities. Later, official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Aibek Smadiarov, said that no Kazakh citizens were injured as a result of the armed escalation between Iran and Israel, and urged Kazakh citizens in the Middle East to exercise caution. “The Kazakh Foreign Ministry expresses deep concern about the increasing escalation of tensions in the Middle East. We call on all parties involved to exercise restraint and refrain from using forceful methods to avoid civilian casualties and further escalation of the situation in the region, which could provoke a full-scale war. In this regard, we note the importance of taking early measures to resolve differences exclusively through political and diplomatic means within the framework of the principles of the UN Charter and international law,” said Smadiarov. According to the representative, 120 citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including diplomats and their family members, are registered as being present in Israel, 102 in Iran, and 139 in Lebanon. “Communication channels have been created with citizens who are in these countries. Constant communication is maintained with them, and necessary recommendations are given depending on the development of the situation in one country or another. Several times, embassies have announced the need to leave the country due to the aggravation of military and political situations. At the same time, the Ministry and authorized bodies are monitoring the situation to work out possible repatriation flights. The evacuation of our citizens is still under consideration and the special control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Smadiarov. Kyrgyzstan The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry stated on October 2 that it is deeply concerned about events taking place in the Middle East, stating that it is calling on “the conflicting parties to respect the fundamental principles and norms of international law, including refraining from actions leading to an escalation of the situation in the region. The Kyrgyz Republic urges the global community to completely stop military action as soon as possible, and start...

4 weeks ago

The Illusion of Influence: The CSTO’s Journey From Symbolic Maneuvers To Real Challenges

Accompanied by a picture of military hardware - though in reverse gear as if symbolically - today, the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) website announced that “From 26 to 30 September, formations participating in the command-staff exercise 'Unbreakable Brotherhood-2024' with the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces are regrouping in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Contingents of CSTO troops are being sent from the Republic of Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan to the exercise area in accordance with the plan.” In reality, the history of the CSTO is one of refusals, inaction, and sometimes unexpected successes. On August 31, Armenia announced it had frozen its participation in the CSTO. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would not name the day when Armenia would leave the CSTO and called the decision to freeze the republic's participation in all structures of the organization correct “at this stage.” In many ways, this half-hearted decision reflects a certain amorphousness that originally characterized the CSTO.   History The history of the structure's emergence reflects this lack of crystalline form. The Collective Security Treaty (CST) was signed in Tashkent between Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on May 15, 1992. Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia later joined in 1993. The treaty came into effect in 1994 and was set to last five years. During the 1990s and the disintegration of Soviet-era institutions, organizations such as the CSTO or the previously created Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), whose founding protocol was signed in Almaty, were created to facilitate a smooth “divorce” between the newly independent states. The CSTO was also seen as a force capable of curbing the regional conflicts which were boiling over, such as the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan. Tashkent's bet on Russian weapons in case of conflicts with the Taliban did not work out, however. From the turn of the 1990s into the 2000s, two serious fissures across the borders of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan took place; the republics fought back with their own military and weapons, in addition to Kazakhstan coming to the rescue. The Collective Security Treaty expired in 1999, with Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia withdrawing, whilst Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan soldiered on under a new pact. The remaining states later transformed the CST into the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2002. Uzbekistan joined as a full member of the CSTO in 2006 but then flip-flopped and suspended its membership in 2012.   A powerless organization While the CSTO was still developing, with President Vladimir Putin coming to power in Russia, the Kremlin's foreign policy changed substantively from that of the Yeltsin era, when Moscow remained indifferent to Nursultan Nazarbayev's integration initiatives. The new direction of Russian foreign policy was expressed in the concepts of “Russia rising from its knees” and the "gathering of lands.” Over time, this evolved into joint war games and military operations with the West in the Middle East and Africa, and for a period the Kremlin seemed to lose interest in Central Asia....

1 month ago