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Nazarbayev (l) in Brussels in 2006 (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

Kazakh leader comes to Brussels: Another wasted opportunity?

The 9 October visit by Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, to Brussels will serve as a pointed reminder of the EU’s colossal failure to secure human rights improvements as part of its engagement with his government, whose record has gone from bad to worse in recent years.

On the agenda for Nazarbaev and his host, the outgoing European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, is what the External Action Service has termed the “political sealing” of upgraded relations in the f...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

Nazarbayev (l) in Brussels in 2006 (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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