![Sample our Area Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5922/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Area-Studies.jpg"})
Abstract
As a major external actor, the European Union prioritises its normative agenda while interacting with Central Asia. This article scrutinises how the very notion of ‘European values’ and the promotion of these values by the European Union are perceived by intermediate elites in Kazakhstan. The article argues that Kazakh opinion-makers distinguish between ‘European’ political values and cultural values. Based on how these two dimensions are interpreted, three categories of perceivers are identified and discussed in detail: ‘opponents’, ‘moderate supporters’ and ‘ardent supporters’ of the EU normative policies. The article also discusses some of the factors shaping those perceptions.
The research for this article was carried out as part of the author’s PhD project at the University of St Andrews, UK, in 2014–2018. The author wishes to thank Riccardo Pelizzo of Nazarbayev University as well as the reviewers appointed by Europe-Asia Studies for their valuable comments on the earlier draft of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Article 2, Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States and the Republic of Kazakhstan, 1999.
2 Exceptions include Smeets et al. (Citation2013), Omelicheva (Citation2015), Spaiser (Citation2018).
3 See also Keukeleire and Lecocq (Citation2018).
4 For example, Chaban et al. (Citation2006), Lucarelli (Citation2007, Citation2013), Lucarelli and Fioramonti (Citation2010), Chaban and Holland (Citation2014), Bachmann and Muller (Citation2015).
5 See also Cornell and Engvall (Citation2017).
6 See also, Chaban et al. (Citation2013, p. 434).
7 The capital city of Kazakhstan was renamed Nur-Sultan in 2019. I use ‘Astana’ throughout this article because the data were collected before the renaming of the city.
8 See also, Sin and Wells (Citation2005, p. 90).
9 Article 1a, Treaty of Lisbon, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:FULL:EN:PDF, accessed 7 October 2020.
10 Article 10a, Treaty of Lisbon, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:FULL:EN:PDF, accessed 24 December 2021.
11 Interview with EU official, European External Action Service (EEAS), Brussels, 4 April 2016.
12 See also Cooley (Citation2008), Hoffmann (Citation2010).
13 For a general review, see Mišík (Citation2019).
14 References to these categories repeatedly appear in interview materials.
15 The last category, in which ‘cultural values’ are perceived positively and ‘political values’ are perceived negatively, was found to be empty in Kazakhstan.
16 Interview with independent expert, Almaty, 16 November 2015.
17 Interview with former member of parliament (MP), Nur-Otan party, Astana, 17 October 2015.
18 Interview with MP, Akzhol party, Astana, 1 October 2015.
19 Interview with MP, Nur-Otan party, Astana, 15 October 2015.
20 Interview with MP, Kommunisticheskaya Narodnaya Partiya Kazakhstana, Astana, 22 October 2015.
21 The combination of words ‘gay’ and ‘Europe’ in Russian.
22 Interview with MP, Akzhol party, Astana, 1 October 2015.
23 Interview with journalist at Vremya, Almaty, 19 November 2015.
24 Interview with political activist, Almaty, 24 November 2015.
25 Interview with MP, Nur-Otan party, Astana, 11 November 2015.
26 Interview with expert, Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, Astana, 16 October 2015.
27 Interview with MP, Nur-Otan party, Astana, 20 October 2015.
28 Interview with journalist at Yegemen Qazaqstan, Astana, 13 October 2015.
29 Interview with expert, Gumilev Eurasian National University, Astana, 30 September 2015.
30 Interview with MP, Nur-Otan party, Astana, 12 October 2015.
31 Interview with expert, Institute for European Law, Astana, 17 October 2015.
32 The interviewee was referring to those who support Russian President Vladimir Putin, his policy in Ukraine and his position on ‘traditional values’.
33 Interview with political activist, Almaty, 18 November 2015.
34 Interview with European diplomat, Astana, 17 September 2015.
35 Interview with a member of the European Parliament, Brussels, 6 April 2016.
36 Interview with civil society representative, Astana, 20 October 2015.
37 ‘Posmotret’ na Kazakhstan drugim vzglyadom prizval evropeitsev Nazarbaev’, Tengrinews, 5 December 2014, available at: https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/posmotret-kazahstan-drugim-vzglyadom-prizval-evropeytsev-266382/, accessed 2 March 2020.
38 Interview with opposition leader, Almaty, 17 November 2015.
39 Interview with independent expert, Almaty, 16 November 2015.
40 Interview with EEAS official 1, Brussels, 7 April 2016.
41 Interview with EEAS official 2, Brussels, 4 April 2016.
42 Interview with journalist at Aiqyn, Almaty, 24 November 2015.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Zhanibek Arynov
Zhanibek Arynov, Postdoctoral Scholar, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbai Batyr Street, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, 010000. Email: [email protected]