“Kazakhstan being the most active partner in the region, having an Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO uses that to the full extent. Kazakhstan is a very important regional player, economically and politically”.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer - Brussels, December 4, 2006

Kazakhstan considers its cooperation with NATO and Partner countries through EAPC and PfP as an important contribution to its national security and to security and stability in Central Asia. It sees the EAPC/PfP as the crucial interface between the Alliance and Partners, providing for confidence building and transparency, and, should a crisis occur, for the coordination of joint action.

The starting point of the relations between Kazakhstan and NATO was the visit of the Secretary General Manfred Worner to Almaty in November 1992 and the return visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Brussels in February 1993.

In 1992 Kazakhstan joined North Atlantic Cooperation Council (predecessor of the Euro- Atlantic Partnership Council created in 1997).

In May 1994 Kazakhstan signed a Framework Document of Partnership for Peace (PfP) and in December 1994 submitted to NATO a Presentation Document, which defines the main goals of Partnership and cooperation with the Alliance.

In 1996 the Security and SOFA Agreements between Kazakhstan and NATO were signed.

Since July 1996 Kazakhstan has its office at Partnership Coordination Cell in Mons and in October 2001 a Military Representative of Kazakhstan was accredited at NATO HQ in Brussels.

In May 2002 Kazakhstan joined the Planning and Review Process of Partnership for Peace (PARP). Kazakhstan's Partnership Goals in the PARP framework set out the measures to have selected peacekeeping and counter-terrorism units interoperable with those of Allied countries.

Cooperation with NATO on capability and interoperability improvements focuses on the Airmobile Forces and the Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Battalion (KAZBAT), which is part of the Airmobile Forces.

“KAZBAT'' engineering team in Iraq trained 230 experts of Iraqi security forces, eliminated 4 million pieces of explosive devices and ammunition, provided medical assistance to more than 2,5 thousand of Iraqi citizens. Since August 2003, an engineer unit with 27 personnel has been deployed to Iraq as a contribution the Polish-led multinational division, and two Kazakh liaison officers are serving in Baghdad and Babylon.

On July 4, 2003, Kazakhstan signed the Memorandum of Understanding with NATO Maintenance and Supply Organization (NAMSO).

On January 6, 2004 Kazakhstan joined Operational Capabilities Concept to expand KAZBAT's interoperability capabilities with NATO.

In October 2004 NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visited Kazakhstan.

During this visit NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for Central Asia and Caucasus Robert F. Simmons Jr. was introduced to the Kazakhstan leadership.

In November 2004 Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan obtained an observer status in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Since then members of Kazakhstan's Parliament have been participating in the annual plenary sessions of the Assembly on a regular basis.

The first visit of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's delegation to Kazakhstan was held in March, 2005.

In March 2005 the Office of the NATO liaison officer for Central Asia was established in Astana.

On 31 January, 2006, Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between Kazakhstan and NATO was approved. This gave a new impetus to Kazakhstan-NATO relationships.

Kazakhstan is an active participant of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program. On June 19, 2006 NATO Science for Peace and Security Committee held its plenary meeting in Almaty. This helped the NATO Science Committee to adapt its programme in order to achieve more effective cooperation with Kazakhstan and its Central Asian neighbours. This meeting was a part of the first ever “NATO Week in Kazakhstan”.

On March 22, 2007 the NATO Science Partnership Prize was awarded to scientists from Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom for excellent collaboration in a NATO-sponsored project on radiological risk in Kazakhstan (SEMIRAD-project).

They received the prize for their work assessing radioactive contamination at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, which was operated by the former Soviet Union.

Within this site (approximate size 18 500 square kilometers) over 450 nuclear devices were detonated over a 40-year period ending in 1989. The facility was officially closed by Kazakhstan in 1992.

A radiological laboratory set up under this project at the al Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty provides Kazakhstan with a much needed capability to analyze radiation risks. The laboratory also provides means for training young scientists.

Kazakhstan intends to increase its involvement in the civil emergency planning activities in the EAPC/PfP framework. On May 19-24, 2007 Kazakhstan's rescue team took part in the EAPC field exercise Idassa-2007 in Croatia.

After terrorist attacks in The U.S. in September, 2001 Kazakhstan has joined international antiterrorist coalition. It has made its air space available to coalition forces in support of Operation Enduring Freedom; a Memorandum of Understanding allows the United States to use Almaty international airport as a reserve airfield for aircrafts participating in Operation Enduring Freedom. The MOU with Denmark and Norway allows aircrafts participating in Operation Enduring Freedom to use Shymkent International airport as an emergency airfield.

In support of NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan on February 1, 2007 Kazakhstan and Germany signed a special bilateral transit Agreement.