General information
May 27, 1992, diplomatic relations established between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Estonia.
In July 1995, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Estonia (in combination) was opened.
In July 2011, the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in the Republic of Kazakhstan was opened.
In July 2012, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Republic of Finland and the Republic of Estonia (in combination) was opened.
In March 2013, the Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Tallinn was opened.
On July 18, 2019, by Decree of the President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, the Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Tallinn was transformed into the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Estonia.
Since December 21, 2019, N.Seitimov has been Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Estonia.
Since August 1, 2021, T.Tirs has been Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Since 2020, Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Paldiski) has been operating in Estonia.
Political relations
Political relations between two countries are developing in an atmosphere of mutual understanding. The positions of the parties on key aspects of international issues are close.
On May 27, 2022, the foreign ministries of Kazakhstan and Estonia adopted a Joint Communiqué on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states.
On January 31, 2023, political consultations were held in Astana between the foreign ministries of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Estonia. The event was co-chaired by the Director of the Department of Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Suleimenov and the Director General of the Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia Marge Mardisalu-Kahar. The parties discussed the interaction between Kazakhstan and Estonia both in a bilateral and multilateral format, exchanged views on the issues of further expanding the legal framework, enhancing inter-parliamentary cooperation and interaction within international organizations.
On May 18-19, 2023, Undersecretary for Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia Märt Volmer took part in the work of the second economic forum "European Union - Central Asia" in Almaty, who held a meeting on the sidelines of the summit with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko and discussed topical issues on the agenda of Kazakh-Estonian cooperation.
In November 2023, an Estonian delegation led by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Jonatan Vseviov visited Kazakhstan, where he held a number of bilateral meetings and discussed the current state of bilateral cooperation.
On February 28, 2024, consultations on consular issues were held in Tallinn between the foreign ministries of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Estonia. The event was co-chaired by the Director of the Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan B. Akataev and the General Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia Tiina Nirk. During the consultations, the parties discussed in detail the issues of simplifying the European Union visa regime for citizens of Kazakhstan.
Top level contacts
In June 1994, the President of the Republic of Estonia L.Meri paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit, an Agreement of Understanding and Cooperation was signed, as well as an Agreement on Cooperation between Foreign Ministries.
In August 1994, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev paid an official visit to Estonia, following which a joint statement was signed on the main areas of relations between the countries.
On April 20-21, 2011, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev paid an official visit to Estonia. Following the event, a number of bilateral documents were signed aimed at deepening interstate partnership.
On February 26-27, 2015, a working visit of the ex-President of Estonia A.Rüütel to the Republic of Kazakhstan at the head of a representative business delegation took place. Interaction in the transit and transport sector is proposed, as well as the introduction of advanced Estonian agro-industrial technologies in order to create joint industries.
On May 30 - June 1, 2015, the ex-president of Estonia A.Rüütel visited the Republic of Kazakhstan to participate in the opening ceremony of the Memorial to the victims of political repression in the village. Spassky Karaganda region.
In September 18, 2023, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a bilateral meeting with the President of Estonia, Alar Karis on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly. During the talks, they discussed the prospects of strengthening cooperation between the two states in various spheres.
High level contacts
On September 7-9, 2009, during the official visit of the Prime Minister of Estonia A.Ansip to Astana, negotiations were held with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev, the Prime Minister K.Massimov and the Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament, K.J.Tokaev.
On May 4-5, 2012, during the official visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia U.Paet to Astana, the official opening ceremony of the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in the Republic of Kazakhstan took place.
On September 6, 2012, during the working visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia A.Ansip to Astana, negotiations were held with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev. During the visit, a Kazakh-Estonian business forum was held with the participation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, K.Massimov.
On March 28-29, 2018, the Kazakh delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Zhumagaliev paid an official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to conduct bilateral negotiations and study Estonian experience in the field of information technology and digitalization of economic sectors.
On May 17-19, 2018, the ex-president of Estonia, Toomas Henrik Ilves, took part in the Astana Economic Forum.
On November 5-6, 2018, the Estonian Prime Minister J.Ratas paid an official visit to Astana, during which negotiations were held with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev, the Prime Minister B.Sagintayev, the Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament, K.J.Tokaev, and the Chairman of the Mazhilis Parliament N.Nigmatulin.
On March 10, 2022, a telephone conversation took place between the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M. Tileuberdi and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia E.-M. Liimets, during which the parties discussed bilateral cooperation and interaction on multilateral platforms.
On December 2, 2022, on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Lodz (Poland), a meeting was held between the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M. Tleuberdi and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia U. Reinsalu.
In October 2023, on the margins of the EU-CA ministerial summit in Luxembourg, a meeting was held between the Deputy PM - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M. Nurtleu and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia M. Tsahkna.
In February 2024, at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, a meeting was held between the Deputy PM - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M. Nurtleu and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia M.Tsahkna.
Inter-parliamentary cooperation
On May 19-21, 2014, the head of the parliamentary group for cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Riigikogu (Parliament) of the Republic of Estonia D.Borodits paid an official visit to Kazakhstan. During the negotiations, the parties discussed the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation.
On November 13-16, 2014, a working visit of the deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the head of the parliamentary group for cooperation with the Republic of Estonia B.Ertaev to Tallinn took place.
On July 2-3, 2018, a member of the Riigikogu Group for Cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan (Parliament) of the Republic of Estonia M.Korb took part in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the capital city of Astanaand the forum of mayors of the cities of the Silk Road countries.
On November 8-9, 2018, a delegation led by S.Plotnikov, a deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, paid a visit to study the experience of Estonia in the field of lawmaking and legal assistance, the digitalization of the judicial system and the maintenance of registers, as well as holding working meetings in the Parliament and the Ministry of Justice of Estonia.
In 2018 and 2019 Members of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia M.Korb and R.Sikkut visited Astanaand held a number of meetings with their Kazakh counterparts.
In January 2021, deputies of the Riigikogu M.Korb and I.Kravchenko visited Astanato monitoring the scheduled parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan as independent observers.
On June 4, 2021, an online meeting of members of inter-parliamentary cooperation groups of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Riigikogu of Estonia was held.
The head of the group for cooperation with Estonia in the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Budget Madi Takiev. The head of the parliamentary group for friendship with Kazakhstan in the Estonian Riigikogu (Parliament) is Vadim Belobrovtsev (Center Party).
Cooperation between Law enforcement agencies
On May 24-26, 2017, a working visit by law enforcement authorities to Estonia led by T.Donakov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, took place in Estonia. The main purpose of the visit was to study the Estonian experience regarding the role and function of the prosecutor in pre-trial investigation and the relationship of these functions with the police and the court, as well as the reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
On October 21, 2022, A delegation of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited Tallinn and held a number of meetings with representatives of the Judicial authorities of the Republic of Estonia. During the talks, the parties exchanged experience in improving judicial administration, digitalization of judicial processes and a general increase in the efficiency of the working system.
July 5-8, 2023, а delegation of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan headed by the Chairman of the Union of Judges Saken Abdolla visited Tallinn and held meetings with representatives of the judicial authorities of the Republic of Estonia. During the negotiations, the parties exchanged experience in improving judicial administration and increasing the efficiency of the judiciary.
On February 19, 2024, the President of Kazakhstan ratified the Agreement between Kazakhstan and Estonia on Readmission.
Cooperation in public administration
On August 5-10, 2017, a Kazakhstan delegation headed by the Steering Committee of the Regional Hub in the field of civil service in Astana A.Baymenov made a working visit to Estonia to exchange best practices in the development of e-government and the fight against corruption. The delegation members get acquainted with the activities of the Estonian authorities in the use of information and communication technologies in everyday life, the experience of organizing electronic document management systems, and the provision of public services. Particular interest was Estonia’s experience in implementing the X-Road system, which defines common interfaces and protocols for interaction and data exchange in the Republic of Estonia.
Following a visit, a Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation was concluded between the Government for Citizens State Corporation and the Estonian Academy of Electronic Governance (eGA).
The experience of Estonia was also taken into account when building the Smart Bridge integration platform in Kazakhstan. Thanks to this platform, since February 2020, state institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been able to cross and securely use their data online and develop e-services for the population and entrepreneurs, which significantly reduced the bureaucratic burden and increased the efficiency of interaction between government structures and the population.
In October 2018 and October 2020, a training seminar was organized for representatives of state bodies and regional municipalities of Kazakhstan to study the experience of Estonia in introducing digital innovations in public administration.
On November 22-26, 2021, a delegation of representatives of Kazakhstani state structures (Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, municipalities of Astana and Aktobe, «Zerde» JSC, NCE «Atameken») visited Tallinn as part of the study of the Estonian experience, and got acquainted with modern digital solutions.
In April 2022, as part of studying the digital experience of Estonia, a Kazakh delegation (Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, «NIS» JSC and IT enterprises) visited Estonia to get acquainted with the experience of digitalization of public services.
In May 2022, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Turysov and Chairman of the Board of «Zerde» JSC A.Abdrasilov took part in the e-Governance Conference in Tallinn.
On June 28-30, 2022, Tallinn hosted the 17th meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management and the 4th joint meeting of the Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment, as well as a special event dedicated to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary waterways and international lakes (Water Convention), which was attended by the authorized representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
On August 31 - September 1, 2022, in order to establish cooperation and study the experience of Estonia in the field of digitalization of archives, the leadership of the Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the State Archives of the Almaty visited the cities of Tallinn and Tartu.
On September 8-10, 2022, Kazakh delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, NCP JSC "Atameken", Center for the Development of Trade Policy "QazTrade" JSC and the Association of Transport Industry Entrepreneurs "KazLogistics" paid a working visit to Estonia and got acquainted with the local practice of digitalization of services (introduction of an electronic system at the border).
On April 9-13, 2023, in order to study Estonian experience in the field of digital data management, development of e-government and the introduction of digital platforms in the structure of public services, a delegation of representatives of Kazakhstani state bodies visited Estonia, which included heads of structural divisions of the Office of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Digital development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and «National Information Technologies» JSC. In addition, Kazakhstani project "Smart Data Ukimet" and the experience of implementing analytical solutions in Kazakhstan for the development of the social sphere were presented to the Estonian side.
On May 30-31, 2023, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Zhambakin took part in the International forum "e-Governance Conference" in Tallinn. On the sidelines of the forum, the Kazakh delegation held a number of meetings with representatives of Estonian government agencies, during which an exchange of views took place on the latest trends in the development of e-government. In addition, the conference participants were presented with Kazakh experience in implementing digital solutions in the areas of public administration, data collection and social assistance.
Cooperation in the field of Healthcare
On July 1, 2020, representatives from more than 60 countries participated in a global video conference jointly organized by the Estonian and Singapore foreign ministries on digital response to COVID-19. Kazakhstan was represented by Ablaikhan Ospanov, Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry.
On July 23, 2020, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Estonia organized a video conference with the participation of the organizers of the digital development of Estonian healthcare, medical companies, representatives of the IT industry and Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Estonia N.Seitimov, Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.Ospanov , Director of the Department of digitalization of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan B.Yesenbayev and head of the Competence Center E.Makulbekov.
During the video meeting, issues of the possible use of the Estonian experience of public-private partnership in the health sector in Estonia during the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of the practice of remote medical consultations, the digitalization of all work processes in medical institutions and other issues of mutual interest were discussed. From the Estonian side, the video conference was attended by the Head of «TNP Konsultatsioonid» E.Tomasova, Head of the network оf clinics «EstMedica» A.Detochenko, Member of the Riigikogu, Member of the Parliamentary Commission for Social Affairs V.Vasiliev and Head of «IDIK» company S.Mozaev.
In December 2022, Kazakh doctors completed a training course at the Estonian Regional Hospital in Tallinn (VATS Clinical Immerse training), where they took part in practical exercises.