Ambassador of Kazakhstan met with the President of the Congress of Deputies

MADRID, September 25, 2020 – The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Spain, Konstantin Zhigalov, met with the President of the Congress of Deputies (lower house of the Cortes Generales), Meritxell Batet.

During the meeting, the parties discussed pressing international issues and a wide range of matters on the bilateral agenda in line with the strategic partnership.

Ambassador Zhigalov and Ms Batet exchanged information on the measures taken by the leadership of Spain and Kazakhstan to stabilize, restructure and stimulate the economy in the context of the ongoing pandemic and the post-coronavirus period. In this regard, Ambassador Zhigalov briefed Ms Batet on the key provisions of President Tokayev’s State of the Nation Address titled “Kazakhstan in a New Reality: Time for Action”, giving her a brochure with his speech in Spanish.

The parties also shared information on the internal political situation both in Kazakhstan and in Spain, the main directions and specifics of the work of their parliaments during the pandemic, offered to continue inter-parliamentary cooperation, including through exchange of high-level visits after stabilizing the epidemiological situation and establishing the Kazakh-Spanish Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group.

As part of the discussion of global issues, Mr. Zhigalov and Ms. Batet stressed the importance of the general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The Ambassador briefed the head of the Congress on the main provisions of the address of President Tokayev.

Furthermore, the Ambassador quoted famous words of great Kazakh thinker Abai about the importance of love and compassion, reasonable and persistent actions, sensible and wisdom words, stating them as his own formula for successful global interaction.

Deeply touched by the wise words of the great Kazakh enlightener, the 175th anniversary of whom is widely celebrated under the auspices of UNESCO, Ms. Batet called them very relevant for all mankind to this day.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Zhigalov, stressing the fruitful bilateral cooperation in the cultural and humanities fields, presented Ms. Batet the book of Abai poems and words of edification recently translated into Spanish. Notably, in Spain, translation of the Anthology of Kazakh prose and poetry into “the language of Cervantes” was received with great satisfaction.