Intergovernmental Commission on Ethnic Germans Holds Annual Meeting in Astana

Astana, May 19, 2026 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the 22nd meeting of the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Ethnic Germans in the Republic of Kazakhstan. As of today, there are 226,000 ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan and around one million German resettlers from Kazakhstan in Germany.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Arman Issetov and Germany’s Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities Bernd Fabritius co-chaired the annual session.

The agenda of the IGC covered issues of cooperation in education, culture, science, youth policies, the studying of German language, archival work, facilitating business contacts and liberalization of the visa regime, with a focus on implementing the joint projects to support the national identity of Germans in Kazakhstan.

The participants noted the important contribution of the Kazakh-German University in Almaty, the Centre for German Language and Culture at the Eurasian National University, the branch of the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences at the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications, the Kazakh-German Center in Astana, the Kazakh-German Institute of Sustainable Engineering in Aktau, the National Academic German Drama Theatre, «Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung» newspaper and other institutions in strengthening the bilateral interaction.

«Kazakhstan considers ethnic Germans an integral part of its society, contributing significantly to strengthening public harmony promoting cultural diversity and expanding international humanitarian ties» Issetov said.

He noted that ensuring favourable conditions for coexistence of various ethnic groups in a common socio-cultural space remains one of the key priorities of the Government of Kazakhstan.

In turn, Bernd Fabritius confirmed the German Government’s intention to continue supporting ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan by saying - «serving as a «bridge of friendship», Ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan contribute to the development of bilateral cooperation, while the German Government supports efforts to strengthen this area of engagement».

The parties agreed on the implementation of further measures to ensure comprehensive support to ethnic Germans in Kazakhstan that were stipulated in the Communique signed at the end of the meeting.

The Intergovernmental Commission on Ethnic Germans in the Republic of Kazakhstan was established in accordance with the Agreement on Cooperation in the Support for Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan of German Nationality between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany signed in Almaty on May 31, 1996.