The concept of the executive training programme for civil servants from Central Asian countries working with European institutions has been presented at the College of Europe, a leading graduate studies institute for European affairs, El.kz cites MFA.
According to the draft concept, short-term courses at the College of Europe cover an introduction to the EU’s foreign, trade, climate and transport policies, its sectoral standards, simulation of negotiation processes, as well as discussions and meetings with EU officials.
Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Federica Mogherini, College Rector, former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, spoke about the selection, training topics and plans to invite the best trainers for specialists from the region. She expressed hope that in future, training will become a regular track of regional cooperation.
Michael Siebert, Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Co-operation and OSCE of the European External Action Service, welcomed the expansion of interregional cooperation in the educational sphere and emphasized that the training meets the needs of growing cooperation.
In his turn, Margulan Baimukhan, Ambassador of Kazakhstan in Belgium, thanked the participants for the joint promotion of the initiative that contributes to its rapid realization. He proposed to take into account the variety and number of sectoral areas of cooperation with the EU when selecting participants. According to the Kazakhstani diplomat, the courses can significantly enhance the effectiveness of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU by giving the representatives of Kazakhstani government agencies an opportunity to learn in practice the features of working with EU institutions.
Representatives of the European External Action Service, the European Commission, the Office of the EU Special Representative for Central Asia, the College, and Ambassadors of Central Asian states in Brussels took part in the meeting.
The details of the programme will be announced in the Roadmap for strengthening interregional ties to be presented during the next Central Asia – EU Ministerial.
The Education Initiative is part of the agreements on cooperation in higher education reached during the meetings between the Heads of State of Central Asia and the President of the European Council on 2 July 2023 in Cholpon-Ata. The first meeting in this format took place in 2022 in Astana.
The Embassy has been conducting a working dialogue with the College on this subject since 2021. On the margins of the official visit of the Head of State to Brussels in November 2021, the JSC “Centre for International Programmes” and “The College of Europe” signed a memorandum on the organization of short-term training for Kazakhstani executives and civil servants.
During the visit, the diplomats also held an informal discussion with the students of the European Diplomatic Academy. The Academy was launched in 2022 as a joint pilot project of several European institutions. In September, the academy received the second track of young diplomats from EU member-states.
During the meeting in Bruges, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan presented F. Mogherini with the Letter of Appreciation from the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the EU. In her role as EU HR/VP, F. Mogherini participated in 2015 in drafting and signing the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kazakhstan and the EU.