President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the law “On Ratification of the Agreement between Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic on confidence building measures in the border area,” which will increase cooperation on military, customs and law enforcement issues, as well as in other spheres. The countries will now agree on the geographic scope, timing and composition of military and special exercises; notify each other of large-scale military activities and troop movements; establish close contacts between military border agencies, special services staff and customs and law enforcement agencies along the border; and implement confidence building measures, according to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Mazhilis of Kazakhstan. The neighbours will also cooperate on border stability, fighting illegal activities and notifying each other of natural disasters.
King Abdullah II of Jordan met Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov in Astana on June 11 to discuss the latest developments in the region. Both parties stressed the need to promote bilateral ties and to build on existing agreements, Jordan’s Petra News Agency reported. They also discussed counter-terrorism efforts and more general work to support peace and security in the Middle East. Massimov noted that Kazakhstan is very interested in investment from Jordan.
Members of the Belarusian National Assembly met with the Astana EXPO 2017 Company and confirmed their interest in participating in infrastructure projects that are part of preparations for the event as well as part of larger regional development programmes, the Belarusian News reports, citing the press service of Belarus’s House of Representatives. The meeting came during the June 15-18 official visit of a Belarusian parliamentary delegation to Kazakhstan. Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko met Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the visit to discuss trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation, as well as strengthening of inter-regional cooperation the interaction between Belarusian and Kazakh MPs in international parliamentary organisations. An agreement on cooperation signed between the House of Representatives of Belarus and the Mazhilis (lower chamber of Parliament) of Kazakhstan is expected to open new avenues of cooperation.
Kazakhstan and the United States should strengthen bilateral military cooperation, says U.S. Army Central Command Sergeant Major Ronnie Kelley, Tengrinews reports. Kelley made the remarks at a press conference in Astana on June 11, following a conference with non-commissioned officers of Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces. The sergeant major said that military matters offered “a great opportunity for cooperation” between the two countries, and “the more we work as a team, the more we cooperate, the stronger we will be.” Kelley also praised the level of training of Kazakhstan’s soldiers and said that the country was moving in the right direction. Kelley also noted that Command Sergeant Major Temirbek Khalykov of Kazakhstan’s armed forces, who was the first Kazakh to graduate from the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, had recently been added to the Hall of Fame of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy as one of its best graduates.
