President Steinmeier confirms that Germany is interested in easing visa requirements for Kazakhstanis
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany has shared his opinion on the issue of easing visa requirements for citizens of Kazakhstan by saying that this is a very important issue.
Steinmeier said that visa issues are the prerogative of the EU, although Germany “supports EU efforts on this issue.”
In March 2023, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko said that Kazakhstan was expecting European countries to introduce a visa-free regime for its citizens. At the time, the official noted that Kazakhstan has been supporting a visa-free regime for the EU member states since 2017. This regime was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then restored in 2022.
In 2020, the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between the EU and Kazakhstan entered into force. According to the document, the two sides should start negotiations on easing visa requirements to facilitate connections between people and promote travel.
President Steinmeier is on an official visit to Kazakhstan. Today, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan and President Steinmeier held talks in both narrow and expanded formats. As a result of their bilateral meetings, the two sides have signed nine documents.
These arrangements are an agreement between DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH and Kazakhstan Railways JSC on the development of partnerships in the field of passenger transportation and logistics; an agreement on the production of medium-voltage switchgear designed by Siemens on Kazakh soil and an agreement on the joint exploration of solid minerals and their processing, among others.
