“More citizens of Kazakhstan on need to leave Eurasian Economic Union” Caliber.Az from Nur-Sultan

Interview of Caliber.Az with Kazakh public and political figure, economist Mukhtar Taizhan.

- This week, Tigran Keosayan, the husband of the Russian propagandist of Armenian origin Margarita Simonyan, on his YouTube channel resorted to insulting remarks about Kazakhstan. Do you think Keosayan expresses his personal opinion or is it a political order, taking into consideration the post of his wife?

- I think that this is primarily a political order, but it is possible and quite possible that it coincides with Keosayan's personal opinion.

- If the order, then what, in your opinion, can such rhetoric lead to, especially since Moscow does not have so many allies now? Why shoot yourself in the foot?

- Let's start with the fact that lately Moscow has been taking very few logical steps and making few sound decisions. There, in my opinion, there are problems with common sense for a long time. Indeed, Russia has quarrelled with almost all of its neighbours. And relations with Kazakhstan are also deteriorating right before our eyes. It started a year and a half ago with the statements of MPs of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Nikonov, Yevgeny Fedorov, not to mention the insults of the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky against Kazakhstan. Therefore, I am not surprised by Keosayan's statements. There are few logical and rational actions in Moscow's behaviour. All this is more like a tantrum.

- Against this background, President of Belarus Lukashenko said yesterday that other countries that used to be part of the USSR would want to join the Union States of Russia and Belarus. How realistic is this in your opinion? Which of the post-Soviet countries can join this association? Kazakhstan?

- I strongly doubt that Kazakhstan will join this Union State, otherwise our authorities would have announced this long ago. But at this historical period, Kazakhstan will not join the Union States. In addition, opposite steps are being discussed in Kazakhstan. On the contrary, more and more citizens of Kazakhstan, representatives of the elite, understand that we need a way out of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Because it is not beneficial to us. That is, the mood in Kazakhstan is directly opposite to the entry of the state into the Union States of Russia and Belarus.

- What was the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on Russian-Kazakh relations? 

- In my opinion, after the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian-Kazakhstani relations froze slightly. No one in Kazakhstan expected such a turn of events that Russia would attack Ukraine like this. Official Kazakhstan is showing a neutral position on this issue. At the United Nations (UN), we abstain from voting on the issue of Russia's war against Ukraine. Therefore, relations between Russia and Kazakhstan seem to me to be frozen for this period, since nothing happens to them after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

- Is the reaction of the Foreign Ministry and MPs of Kazakhstan to the words of Keosayan adequate, or could it have been tougher?

- I think that it was possible to react tougher. Not just to declare Keosayan a candidate for the status of persona non grata, but to open a criminal case and put him on the international wanted list. And everywhere in the world place red cards on his movements, through Interpol. But the authorities of Kazakhstan limited themselves to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Kazakhstan "does not exclude the introduction of a ban on entry into the country to the Russian TV presenter and director Tigran Keosayan."

- As far as I know, you visited Azerbaijan last December. I can't help but ask about your impressions. What regions of Azerbaijan have you visited?

- First of all, I would like to convey my heartfelt greetings to the Azerbaijani people. In December 2021, I visited Azerbaijan, visited the liberated territories in Karabakh, and was in Shusha. I am grateful to official Baku for positively considering the possibility of my visit to these territories. You know that you can’t just get there because of the mine danger. I want to say that I am delighted with the level of patriotism and training of the Azerbaijani army. I visited Azerbaijan with my wife, we were very impressed with the cleanliness in Baku. This is already a European city. We did not limit ourselves to staying in Baku but also went to Gabala [a tourist district in Azerbaijan]. We visited tourist locations there. I like how Azerbaijan is developing its tourism sector. You are great! Keep it up, Azerbaijani brothers!