The President of Poland Supports Visa-Free Regime with Kazakhstan

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday began an official visit to Kazakhstan to meet the country’s leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and attend a Polish-Kazakh business forum.

Once there, President Duda voiced his support of President Nazarbayev’s proposal that there be a mutual visa-free regime between the countries.

"Polish companies have been present on the Kazakh market for several years now,” President Duda stated. “The abolition of the visa regime for Polish citizens up to 30 days would facilitate not only business contacts, but also tourist visits, as does the launch of a direct air service already implemented by the Polish airline between Warsaw and Astana. Mr. President, you can count on the support of representatives of the Polish State. Our position here is unambiguous," he told Nazarbayev.

President Nazarbayev suggested that Poland also introduce a visa-free regime for the people of Kazakhstan.

"We are also ready to help each other in the formation of modern transport infrastructure for the accelerated delivery of goods from Asia to Europe and vice versa. The long-awaited event was the opening on May 28 of a direct air service between Astana and Warsaw and the fact that we removed the visa regime between our countries; now we ask the same of the Polish side,” he said during a press statement following the talks in Akorda. At the same time, the President of Kazakhstan expressed confidence that the visit of President Andrzej Duda would give new impetus to Kazakh-Polish relations and serve the benefit of the two peoples.

President Duda’s trip to Kazakhstan is a return visit after Nazarbayev visited Poland in August last year, according to the Polish president’s foreign policy adviser Krzysztof Szczerski.

“Polish-Kazakh trade has increased by 90% since that visit,” Szczerski claims.

David Drummers