Kazakhstan highlights that it won’t join any union state

Kazakhstan has no intention and doesn’t plan to create or join any union states, according to Ruslan Zheldibay, the official spokesperson for the president of Kazakhstan.

«As you probably know President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the second Eurasian Economic Summit in Moscow recently. During the meeting, the president made some statements that sparked a lot of discussion among the expert community. In this regard, I’d like to note that the key message by the president was the following: the process of integration within the EEU can and should follow only the economic path. If someone wants more, it destroys goals, principles and tasks of charter documents of the organization,» Zheldibay wrote on Facebook.

He also cited President Tokayev’s statement that economic integration isn’t a goal but a tool to facilitate economic development and improve the well-being of the people. Every decision made by the EEU must serve the interests of its member states and their people, Zheldibay highlighted.

According to Tokayev’s spokesperson, the president also mentioned different approaches to integration within the EEU. For instance, Russia and Belarus have chosen to go further and create a union state.

«Concerning our country, Kazakhstan has no intentions and isn’t planning to create or join any union states,» Zheldibay underlined.

On May 24, President Tokayev attended the Eurasian Economic Summit called «Eurasian Integration in the Multipolar World» in Moscow. During the meeting, he described the union state of Russia and Belarus established within the EEU as a «two countries – one state» phenomenon.  However, he also highlighted that there is another approach to integration and this approach must be respected.