Kazakhstan continues to advocate for the principle of sovereign equality in the IAEA

Vienna, March 7, 2025 – At the initiative of Kazakhstan, the IAEA Board of Governors held a substantive discussion on the issue of restoration of sovereign equality of all Member States in the Agency.

Member States emphasized the positive developments in resolving this issue, which were facilitated by the IAEA General Conference resolution adopted at Kazakhstan’s initiative in 2023. As a result of efforts to restore sovereign equality, three Member States – Bahrain, Nepal, and Brunei Darussalam – were included in the respective regional groups, granting them the right to be elected to the Agency’s governing bodies. Several countries also expressed support for reforming the electoral system of the IAEA’s governing bodies.

Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative Mukhtar Tileuberdi, in his speech, emphasized the inadmissibility of limiting the fundamental rights of IAEA Member States and called for regional groups to be flexible in finding a solution to this issue. He stated that Kazakhstan, continuing its work to strengthen the fundamental principles of the UN within the Agency, reserves the right to directly nominate itself to the IAEA Board of Governors at the upcoming 69th session of the General Conference.

The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan also informed the Board of Governors that the “Group of Friends of Arealess Member States” will continue its work under the chairmanship of the experienced diplomat in the field of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, Ambassador of Argentina Gustavo Zlauvinen.