European Day marked simultaneously in 28 schools of Astana

    The EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, along with Ambassadors and senior diplomats from 15 EU Member-States delivered "European Union hour" lessons in 28 secondary schools of Astana, involving in total more than one thousand pupils. The event was supported by Astana City Akimat and dedicated to the celebration of Europe Day.
    Ambassador of the EU to Kazakhstan Aurelia Bouchez, Ambassador of Greece Efthymios Pantzopoulos, Ambassador of Spain Manuel Larrotcha Parada, Ambassador of France Francis Etienne, Ambassador of Italy Stefano Ravagnan, Ambassador of Latvia Juris Maklakovs, Ambassador of Hungary Imre Laszloczki, Ambassador of Slovakia Peter Juza, Ambassador of Finland Ilkka Raisanen, and senior diplomats representing embassies of Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, the United Kingdom and the EU Delegation held interactive sessions in English, French and German languages on history of creation of the European Union, its achievements and perspectives, economy and policies, culture and values of the European Union and its member-states.
    Pupils from Astana schools, speaking in fluent English and other foreign languages, actively participated in discussions on culture and history of Europe, and EU-Kazakhstan bilateral relations. At the end of the lessons, the winners of the quiz "What we know about the EU?" received gifts and souvenirs from the EU and member-states.
    The EU is Kazakhstan's largest trade and investment partner. The EU accounts for almost 50% of Kazakhstan's foreign trade; 60% of Kazakhstan's foreign direct investment comes from European companies.
    The European Union and Kazakhstan have been partners since the country's independence, and today, Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian partner to have concluded the negotiations on an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) with the EU. The EPCA is an important milestone to further advance relations and strengthen the EU and its Member States’ cooperation with Kazakhstan.
    On 9 October 2014 the signing ceremony of the Protocol on completion of negotiations on EPCA between the EU and Kazakhstan took place in Brussels in presence of the European Commission President J.M. Barroso and the President of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev. On 20 January 2015 the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was initialed in Brussels.
    Europe Day (9 May) celebrates peace and unity in Europe.
    The date marks the anniversary of the historical Schuman Declaration.
    At a speech in Paris in 1950, the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable.
    His vision was to create a European institution that would pool and manage coal and steel production. A treaty creating such a body was signed just under a year later. Schuman’s proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union, the European Delegation to the Republic of Kazakhstan said.