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In 2008, France and Kazakhstan signed a strategic partnership, which the two countries wanted to strengthen, in light of the visit of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to France last November.

It was in light of this long-term strategic partnership, but now to be strengthened, and a few days before the second edition of the Astana International Forum (29-30 May 2025), that the Institute for Foresight and Security in Europe (IPSE), under the sponsorship and in the presence of Bruno Fuchs, Member of Parliament for the Haut-Rhin, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, organised the conference “France and Kazakhstan: a strengthened strategic partnership, bridge and accelerator of cooperation between Europe and Central Asia”.

This strategic dialogue initiative has thus underlined and recalled that the special relationship between Paris and Astana, based on strong bonds of friendship, has been growing again in recent years.

Indeed, the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and France, which was sealed in 2008, was upgraded in November 2024, in the context of the State visit to Paris by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to the level of a strengthened strategic partnership.

It is now characterised by a clear and common desire to further diversify existing relations by using the great potential of new mutually beneficial investment sectors, such as: energy, in light of the energy transition and sustainable development; the exploitation of critical minerals; health; infrastructure and industrial projects; the development of freight transport networks and logistics hubs; digital innovation and advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and digital development; agro-industry; and the fight against climate change – as President Tokayev recalled at the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand.

In the Central Asian region, made up of five states (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) with a population of 75 to 80 million, 35% of whom are under the age of 15, Kazakhstan is thus unquestionably strengthening its role as a regional leader, both politically and economically, in particular, given its diplomatic position characterised by the effectiveness of its mediation model – like the Astana process on Syria, from 2017 onwards –, its aspiration for multi-vector diplomacy – characterised by a “zero problems with all its neighbours” policy –, and a multi-membership in intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the Organisation of Turkish States (OTS), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

This diplomacy, which is deeply non-aligned, has also been “denuclearised” militarily since the Treaty of Semipalatinsk, ratified in 2009, which confirms Kazakhstan’s status as a denuclearised power, which was confirmed by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Atomic Weapons adopted at the UN in 2017. It goes the same way with its intercultural approach to international relations.

Kazakhstan, as the largest landlocked country in the world (2.7 million km2, i.e. four and a half times the French surface area), has launched an initiative at UN level to federate the 44 landlocked states or countries without access to the sea.

This region therefore urgently needs to consolidate its “strategic autonomy”, capable of building stronger regional integration, which was confirmed by the recent EU-Central Asia summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (3-4 April 2025) in the presence of the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa.

The first meeting in EU-Central Asia format at the level of Heads of State had, moreover, taken place in Astana in October 2022, in which the then President of the Council of the European Union, Charles Michel, had participated.

This momentum of inter-regional solidarity thus unveils a strong new bilateral axis between the EU and Central Asia, of which Kazakhstan, chaired by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has in recent years been a committed and appreciated spokesperson.

At first sight, what might seem like yet another EU cooperation meeting with a neighbouring region reveals not only a desire for these landlocked states to consolidate their strategic and multilateral position, but also the ideal opportunity for the EU to extend its legitimacy more firmly to the heart of the Asian continent.

It should be recalled that already in June 2019, the European Union adopted a New Strategy for Central Asia, which already highlighted the growing importance of this region in the eyes of Europeans, by establishing strategic investment and diplomatic cooperation agreements.

This new approach to the “second circle” of our neighbourhood (complimenting the Eastern Partnership, around the Black Sea and in the South Caucasus) was reinforced, moreover, in September 2022, with the objective of the Global Gateway, presented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, during her State of the EU address, to strengthen the EU’s interconnection with the rest of the world.

It is a strategy of more than EUR 40 billion of spending on technology and infrastructure, considered by many, and rightfully so, as the materialisation of this search for influence in Central Asia, desired and perceived, in particular as a response to the new Silk Roads, such as the One Belt, One Road (OBOR), launched in November 2013, in the presence of the presidents of China, Xi Jinping, and Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in Astana, which has since become the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The EU therefore has multiple interests in this area, which is – geographically as well as politically – a natural corridor between Europe and Asia, in the heart of Eurasia, with many energy resources and a strong potential market.

€10 billion was mobilised in 2022 at the first EU-Central Asia Business Forum. An additional €12 billion has now been identified at the recent Samarkand Summit, which the following second Investment Forum is expected to confirm in a few weeks.

Moreover, in 2024, Kazakhstan will have consolidated its position as the leading economy in Central Asia on the basis of several key indicators, such as:

- National GDP reached US$288 billion, the highest level in the region and accounting for 50% of regional GDP;

- GDP per capita is now $14,300, almost 20 times higher than in 1993, putting Kazakhstan on the threshold of high-income economies.

This economic performance is underpinned by growth that reached +4.8% in 2024. Moreover, the forecast for 2025 amounts to +5.4%. Kazakhstan also remains the main centre of attraction for foreign direct investment in the region: in 2024, it attracted US$17 billion in new projects – or 63% of all FDI in Central Asia.

Today, Kazakhstan is also establishing itself as an essential logistical hub between Europe and Asia: thanks to its strategic position in the heart of Eurasia. It is now 80% of rail freight between China and Europe that already passes through Kazakh territory via the Middle Corridor linking Asia and Europe. Thus, in 2024, the volume of container transport – via this corridor – increased by 62%, reaching 4.5 million tonnes. The target is now to increase this figure to 10 million tonnes by 2027.

Thanks to these structuring investments and enhanced regional coordination, delivery times between China and Europe via this trade route are now between 19 and 23 days, with priority deliveries reaching their destination in just two weeks.

In this context, it should also be recalled that Kazakhstan now accounts for 80% of trade between France and Central Asia as a whole, making it France’s natural strategic partner in the region. This figure alone also illustrates Astana’s strategic centrality in global supply chains and the regional development plans of French companies.

France is among the top five foreign investors in Kazakhstan. Since 2005, the country has attracted more than $20 billion in French investment – an ever-increasing figure that reflects the strength and depth of the bilateral economic relations.

The Central Asian country remains the largest regional exporter of crude oil (with 88.4 million tonnes produced, 68.8 million of which are exported) and its huge oil reserves (30 billion barrels), ranking 12th in the world in terms of world reserves.

Moreover, Kazakhstan remains the world’s largest producer of uranium, accounting for almost 37% of world production (23 270 tonnes); With 815 200 KT, Kazakhstan holds the second place in terms of proven reserves of hydrocarbons, behind Australia.

In 2024, production reached 23 270 tonnes, thanks in particular to the relaunch of several mining sites. But also, Kazakhstan is the most credible and reliable regional exporter of uranium, copper and concentrated ores, ferro-alloys, wheat, as well as critical minerals – essential for industrial and energy value chains.

Kazakhstan thus has more than 130 known deposits, out of the approximately 380 identified by the US Geological Survey, including strategic elements such as phosphorus, neodymium, praseodymium, yttrium, cerium, scandium and tantalum.

Paradoxically, this situation makes it possible to seal the agreement between the Central Asian bloc led by Kazakhstan, which is fond of multilateral agreements, and the European Union, whose members do not want to be overwhelmed by a new migration crisis.

Moreover, the EU remains a major economic partner, for example Kazakhstan’s main trading partner, accounting for 40% of the country’s trade balance.

If Central Asia wants to move closer to the European Union and the opposite is reciprocal, it will not be without guarantees and commitments on democratic reforms for these former Soviet republics, after 34 years of independence, unlike the partnerships concluded with Russia, China or Türkiye.

The European Union would thus find genuine interest in valuing its relationship with the countries of Central Asia in the wake of this Afghan crisis, and recognising the importance of this region as a full-fledged political partner, notably through Kazakhstan, which has proved a real will, moreover, frequently reaffirmed, for international cooperation, particularly in the field of border security.

Today, the Central Asian region is of growing strategic importance for Europe. The 27 EU Member States and the 5 Central Asian countries are, in fact, united by the same conviction as the rule of law, the legitimacy of legal norms and the relevance of convergent social criteria, in particular those aimed at harmonising ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) rules. This legal diplomacy would not only be mutually beneficial, through socio-economic harmonisation and diplomatic cooperation to be explored, but would also have the significant advantage for the EU of re-examining the dogmas of a trans-Atlantic relationship that is faltering and, at the same time, would allow Central Asia to emancipate itself somewhat from the “tutelage” that Moscow intends to maintain vis-à-vis its former Soviet socialist republics.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022 has profoundly changed traditional ways of obtaining necessary energy resources and food. Moreover, the erratic foreign policy of the new Trump administration offers many advantages in turning to the countries of Central Asia.

In particular, would Kazakhstan, because of its critical size, not be the best chance for the EU to emerge from its external regionalism and once again become a force for mediation, stabilisation and affirmation of its singular power on the international scene?

Photo source: PxHere.com.