Britain Open To Deeper Partnership With Kazakhstan, Cameron Tells RFE/RL

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told RFE/RL that his country is open to building a deeper partnership with Kazakhstan.

In an interview in Astana on April 25, Cameron said that while preserving its ongoing ties and cooperation with Russia and China, Kazakhstan also has "the choice to have a deeper partnership with Britain."

"I think we already have a great partnership on education, on business, on the economy, on trade, political cooperation. I've seen that growth since I first came here 13 years ago. The point is, we are a voluntary partner, a choice you can make if you want to make that choice," Cameron said.

Cameron also said that he and Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met the previous day and discussed the Kazakh government's current efforts to return illegally obtained assets kept abroad back to Kazakhstan, emphasizing that "it's vital that we work with you to try and find that money and return it. "

Britain is one of the first countries in the world that introduced what's called unexplained wealth orders, he said. This allows an examination of the origins of someone's wealth, and if it was stolen, "we can take it back and return it," he added.

He admitted that it was "not working as well as I'd like" but said Britain is "committed to working with you to make this happen."

Britain introduced unexplained wealth orders (UWO) in 2017 to give U.K. law enforcement a means of compelling targeted individuals to reveal the sources of any riches that could not be accounted for. Under a UWO, Britain's National Crime Agency can apply to seize property when a suspected corrupt foreign official, or member of their family, cannot identify a legitimate source of the funds used for buying it.

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Cameron also said that Britain could play an important role in the implementation of Kazakhstan's plans to build nuclear power plants.

"We've been making small nuclear reactors for many years because they've been in our submarines. And I think there is potential for companies like Rolls-Royce to produce these small nuclear reactors for other countries," Cameron added.

Cameron held separate talks on April 24 with Toqaev and Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtileu. The sides discussed regional security, cooperation, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said.

An agreement on strategic partnership and cooperation between the two nations was signed during the Cameron-Nurtileu talks.

Earlier this week, Cameron also held talks with top officials in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He is also scheduled to visit Mongolia during his ongoing diplomatic tour of Central Asia.