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Finnish President Alexander Stubb began the first of a two-day visit to Kazakhstan on Tuesday, with aims to bolster economic cooperation between Finland and the former Soviet state. Stubb's visit is said to be highly anticipated in the Central Asian republic, which is hoping for increased trade with the EU and with Finland. During the first part of his trip, Stubb will meet with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the country's capital Astana. Their discussions will focus on bilateral relations between Finland and Kazakhstan, the impacts of geopolitics on Europe and Central Asia, Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as multilateral cooperation. The Finnish president is also due to meet with Kazakhstan's prime minister and senate chair. Additionally, Stubb is scheduled to take part in a business seminar, hold a lecture at Maqsut Narikbayev University, as well as meet with local foreign policy experts. Stubb is joined on the trip by representatives from 21 Finnish comanies, including engineering tech giants Wärtsilä, Konecranes and Metso, as well as food products company Valio. However, independent observers such as Human Rights Watch have noted that Kazakhstan has a poor human rights record and has close business ties to Russia. Last weekend the human rights group KIBHR reported that Kazakh police arrested 70 people at a demonstration, but noted that most of those detained had only been passersby — and not involved — in the event. International experts have also described Kazakhstan's political system as authoritarian.
