Political Interaction between the Central Asian Participants of the EAEU and the European Union

Abstract

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan combine their membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) - the most large-scale and dynamically developing integration association in the Post-Soviet space -with an active participation in projects and programs of the European Union (EU). This economic and political alliance is aimed at the regional integration of its 28 member countries located mainly in Europe. The EU is simultaneously actively involved in the economic and political processes in the Post-Soviet space, including its Central Asian segment. The EU strategy in the Central Asian region is aimed at bilateral and regional cooperation with its partners, among which Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan occupy an important place. The bilateral partnership and cooperation agreements concluded between them and the EU have become the main instruments providing the European Union with influence in these countries. The EU accession in the Central Asian region and the promotion of a united Europe’s interests combine with the attention of the EU institutions and structures to important areas of Central Asia development. Among these areas are transport networks, energy, security, government, education and human rights. Although the integration in the EAEU and the EU, as well as the terms of trade and economic agreements concluded by the participants of the EAEU with the EU, has a number of distinctive features, this does not become an obstacle to the aspirations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for in-depth cooperation with the EU -both in politics and economics. The EUs tactics of distancing itself from the EAEU, positioning the united Europe as a kind of an alternative to this integration union becomes a serious geopolitical challenge both for the EAEU and for the prospects of integration in Central Asia while maintaining Russia’s leading role in this process.